Garces (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Michael Garces would have marked his 14 years of service as a Cebu City traffic enforcer next month.
But his career and life were cut short after two armed men gunned him down, 50 meters from his house in Barangay Sambag 2, Cebu City on Saturday night.
The 40-year-old Garces succumbed to a gunshot wound, with the bullet puncturing his heart. It entered his right armpit and exited on the left side of his body, said P03 Alberto Diamante, Cebu City homicide investigator.
Garces was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital in Urgello, but was declared dead on arrival.
Police have yet to determine whether the killing was related to his job as a traffic enforcer.
Garces left behind four young children and his 37-year-old wife, Maria Riza, who claimed that her husband did not have any work-related problem.
Maria Riza told Cebu Daily News in an interview yesterday that her husband was on his way to fetch her and their six-year-old daughter from her friend’s house in Barangay Duljo Fatima when he was shot.
The victim had gone home to bring dinner to his three other kids who were left at their house.
The suspects had been waiting for the right timing to kill him since 11 a.m. on Saturday, when they left their house.
“They were seen walking back and forth at the nearby basketball court and to an eatery a few meters from our house,” she said.
Maria Riza said their neighbors claimed that her husband was driving his motorcycle when he was shot at by the assailants, who were waiting on a parked motorcycle for Garces to pass by.
She said her husband stopped his motorcycle to turn back to the house after he realized he was shot.
It was at this instant that the backrider pulled the trigger again, but the gun did not fire.
“The gunmen then approached my husband and a scuffle ensued. If it was just a scuffle, they could not beat my husband since he had a large build, but what can he do, they had a gun,” she said in Cebuano.
One of them allegedly shot the victim for the third time and hit him in the armpit.
She said her husband had a disagreement with an uncle last week.
“My husband was accused of stealing iron grills. Last week, his uncle went to our house harassing him and challenging him to a fight,” Maria Riza said.
The body of Garces was brought to St. Peter’s Funeral in Imus.
“This is a sad moment for the CCTO. We lost one of our own yet again in a senseless, brutal crime. I remember him as a loyal and hardworking public servant,” said Rey Gealon, executive director of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), in a text message to CDN.
He said Mayor Michael Rama also expressed his deepest condolences to the Garces family and has directed to expedite the processing of death, burial and other benefits.