Brazil’s gunman tagged in previous Lapu shootings

HOMICIDE investigators in Lapu-Lapu City are looking into the possibility that the culprit in the shooting of Basak Barangay Captain Isabelito Darnayla last February may be the same person who tried to kill the city traffic chief over the weekend.

Lapu-Lapu City Police Homicide Section Chief Alcon Escosura said that the descriptions provided by City Traffic Management System (CTMS) head Frank Brazil and his companions were similar to the one who shot and injured Darnayla.

Among the motives considered by the police in Brazil’s attack was the CTMS’s clearing operation against colorum or illegal tricycles in Basak.

Escosura said his office invited two former CTMS personnel and the president of the LapuLapu City Muslim Vendors’ Association to help in the shooting investigation.

Brazil suffered two gunshot wounds in his back in an attack last Saturday night. He is still confined in a hospital.

“Naa mi gi-validate. Di pa ko kaingon kung nakagawas or naa pa sya diri sa (We are validating the suspect’s identity. I cannot confirm whether the suspect is still here or no longer in) LapuLapu,” said Escosura.

Darnayla was shot in Sitio Kagudoy in Barangay Basak while he was on board his black Ford Ranger pickup last Feb. 7.

One man served as the gun- man, while the other person was the driver of the getaway motorcycle.

Escosura said a pending arrest warrant for a murder case was issued by the court against the suspect for killing the nephew of the late Agus barangay captain Jovencio Lauron two years ago.

A frustrated murder was filed by the police against the same suspect and his cohort for shooting Darnayla last February.

The pending arrest warrant had been served to the suspect whenever authorities received information about his whereabouts.

Escosura, however, said that the suspect was very elusive and has been transferring from one place to another.

The two former CTMS personnel were cleared from any involvement in the attack against Brazil.

In a separate interview, PO3 Luisito Ernie, the investigator assigned to the case, said that one former traffic enforcers said he was in a beach resort from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. last Saturday for an outing with his friends when the attack happened. The other former traffic enforcer, on the other hand, was working in Barangay Busay in Cebu City.

Ernie said that the president of the city’s Muslim vendors’ association vowed to help the police in identifyin the gunman.