Ex-convict shot while drinking coffee at a bakery in Brgy. Tejero

Policemen responded to a shooting incident in Sitio Zapanta, Barangay Tejero, Cebu City early on Saturday morning, August 17. | CDN Digital photo / Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Mark Anthony Rico, 44, visited a bakery in Sitio Zapanta in Brgy. Tejero, Cebu City at around 4:05 a.m. on Saturday to have a cup of coffee.

But he was unable to enjoy his hot coffee after he was shot on his right jaw.

A neighbor helped Rico and brought him to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (DVSMMC) on a motorcycle for the treatment of his wound.

READ: Man killed while drinking with friends in Cebu City

Police at the Waterfront Police Station said that Rico, a resident of Sitio Riverside Park also in Brgy, Tejero, is now safe and recuperating for his injury.

READ: Cebu City shooting: Man, out on bail, killed inside his house

Luckily, his girlfriend who was with him at the bakery, was unharmed.

Revenge

Police are considering revenge as possible the possible motive in the attempt to kill Rico. However, they do not discount the possibility that it could also be related to illegal drugs.

READ: Gun-for-hire killed in shootout with Waterfront police

Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered four empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol and one slug at the crime scene.

Police said they now have a person of interest after Rico managed to identify his gunman as a relative of a man whom he earlier killed.

Rico was an ex-convict who spent 10 years at the Cebu City Jail in Brgy. Kalunasan after he was convicted for a murder charge.  He was released from jail on October 23, 2023.

Police are currently conducting follow up operations to arrest the said gunman.