The body of Johaiber Abdulgani lays on the street after he was shot by a still unidentified suspect in Barangay Pahina Central in Cebu City early Friday, May 28, 2021. | Screengrab from live stream of Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Police are looking at personal grudge as the possible motive behind the killing of a man along Colon Street in Barangay Pahina Central here past 4 a.m. on Friday, May 28, 2021.
The police identified the victim as Johaiber ” Opao Bao” Abdulgani, 28, a sidewalk vendor and resident of 24G Climaco Street in Barangay Pahina. Abdulgani is a native of Lanao del Sur.
According to Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office, the police are looking at the business angle resulting in personal grudge as the possible motive of the killing based on the information from their witness, the victim’s brother.
Parilla said police received information that the victim had a conflict with someone prior to his death. Police consider this individual as a person of interest.
Parilla said that in order to check if their person of interest was the suspect behind the shooting, they are collecting footage from Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage from nearby areas.
Parilla said that they are monitoring the POI but would not divulge further details as they are still conducting their investigation.
Around 4:45 a.m. on Friday, police from the Carbon Police Station received a call, reporting a shooting incident in Pahina Central. Police said that the informant heard a burst of gunfire in the area and that when he was about to check where it came from, he saw the victim lying on the road and the suspect escaping towards Borromeo Street.
Emergency personnel responded to the shooting but Abdulgani had no pulse when they arrived.
Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered an empty shell of a caliber 9 mm from the scene.
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