Cebu City shooting: Gunman kills man in front of his brother 

Assailant wore a bonnet and jacket and shot the victim while he was fixing his motorcycle

A makeshift wooden cross is placed in the spot where Johnprel Dela Cerna was killed by a gunman in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City on Tuesday evening. | Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines —An unidentified gunman approached two brothers fixing a motorcycle, then he pulled out a gun as he drew near and locked in on his target — one of the two brothers.

When he was just a few meters from his target, he then shot him several times, hitting the victim in the forehead, chest and back.

After shooting the victim several times, the gunman then headed to a waiting motorcycle and fled the area.

The attack happened in Sitio Upper Upper Laya, Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City at past 10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 15.

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Cebu City shooting: Gunman focused on target

The brother of the victim, who was shocked by the attack, was left unharmed. It seemed that the gunman was just focusing on one person, his brother and the gunman’s target, 25-year-old Johnprel Dela Cerna, a habal-habal driver.

Police Major Miles Damoslog, chief of Guadalupe Police Station, said that the victim was the sole target of the assailant. 

Despite his brother sitting right next to him, only Dela Cerna was attacked. 

Damoslog said that they recovered a CCTV footage and found that the assailant boarded a motorcycle as his getaway vehicle after the shooting.   

He further said that one of the possible motives they were investigating was personal grudge.

Victim’s sister: He has no enemies

According to the sister of the victim in an interview with radio station dyHP, that the gunman could not be identified because he was wearing a bonnet, a black jacket, and pants.

The sister of the victim said that they were surprised at why his brother was killed.

She said that she did not know of any enemies of her brother because he was a jolly man and had no enemies there.

She also said that he even had no vices except smoking, and he would not even drink alcohol.

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“Wa ni siyay kontra. Wa man gani ni siyay cellphone,” said the sister.

(He has no enemies. He does not even have a cellphone.)

Cebu City shooting: Call for justice

She also called on the public who had knowledge of the killing to help give his brother justice.

But with the way things are, she could only lift everything to God to give her brother justice.

The victim’s live-in partner also has the same view.

“Ang Ginoo na lang ang magigo sa tanan,” said the victim’s live-in partner.

(Only God will know what to do with this.)

“Ginoo na lang mag-igo niya kay siyay [gunman] nihukom sa kinabuhi sa tawo,” she added.

(Only God will know what to do with him because he was the one who decided to take the life of a person.)

Authorities continue to investigate the killing and dig deeper into the background of the victim.

The live-in partner of the victim said that her partner went outside to fix his motorcycle after letting their child sleep.

Since she could not think of anybody hurting her live-in partner, she just wanted justice for his death.

Police have a lead, person of interest

Based on the police report, after receiving a telephone call about the shooting, personnel of the Guadalupe Police Station arrived at the area at 10:55 p.m. 

Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered three pieces of empty bullet shells and one deformed fire bullet at the crime scene.

Damoslog added that police were also validating reports that the shooting was allegedly related to illegal drugs due to reports that the victim might have been involved in such activities.

As of this writing, law enforcers have already identified a person of interest and are following a lead to solve the case of Dela Cerna’s death.