Habal-habal driver shot dead in Tisa ambush

A 37-year-old motorcycle-for-hire or habal habal driver was shot dead by an unidentified gunman in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City on Monday night.

Lester Labra of Sitio Kapakulan in Barangay Tisa was heading out from his home to look for passengers when he was shot several times by an armed assailant as he passed by F. Pacana St. at past 9 p.m., said SPO1 Joje Magdadaro, homicide investigator of the Punta Princesa Police Precinct, in a phone interview.

Magdadaro said that Labra died after suffering several gunshot wounds in the body.

He also said that after the attack, the assailant, who was probably waiting at the side of the road for the victim to pass by to ambush him, then walked to a waiting motorcycle driven by a cohort and fled the area.

The shooter, who was wearing a ball cap during the attack, was possibly using a 9 mm pistol since police found several empty shells of the pistol at the crime scene.

Magdadaro also said that they were looking into personal grudge as the motive of the attack.

But, he said, they were not discounting other possible motives that could triggered the ambush.

Aside from that, he said that they were also looking for possible witnesses that could shed light on the circumstances of the shooting and perhaps provide information that could lead to the arrest of the killers.