Police recovered six empty shells from a .45 caliber gun at the corner of Legaspi and P. Burgos Streets in Cebu City where Jorjie de Gracia was killed Monday night, February 24, 2020. | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The man who was killed by a motorcycle tandem in Barangay San Roque, Cebu City at around 10 p.m. on Monday, February 24, 2020, was a member of a local gun-for-hire group, said Police Major Joemar Pomarejos, chief of the Waterfront Police Station.
Pomarejos said that the victim, Jorjie de Gracia, may also have links with drug personalities here.
De Gracia, who is in his 50s, was on board his bicycle when shot several times. He was said to have come from the port area and was traversing Legaspi Street on his way to downtown Cebu City when a motorcycle tandem came from behind and fired shoots hitting him on the different parts of his body.
The killing happened at the corner of Legaspi and P. Burgos Streets which is located just a few meters away from the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
Police recovered six empty shells from a .45 caliber gun near the victim’s body.
Medical responders brought de Gracia to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) but he no longer made it to the hospital alive.
De Gracia’s killing happened a day after three individuals were also killed in separate shooting and stabbing incidents in Cebu City.
Read: 3 killed in Cebu City in less than five hours
Police are yet to identify the suspects in the three other killings.
Pomarejos said that they are now looking for Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) mounted in the area hoping that this may have recorded the killing. He said that they would need all the help that they could get especially since witnesses to de Gracia’s killing were unable to give a description of what the suspects looked like.
While the area was dimly lit, suspects also wore black jackets and full-faced helmets.
Pomarejos said that they also waiting for de Gracia’s family to appear at the police station so they could talk to them and get information on the nature of his work and the identity of the men whom he met with at the port area prior to his killing.
He said that de Gracia’s name had already surfaced in their previous investigations on drug personalities who admitted to hiring gunmen. / dcb