Man killed for pacifying agitated teens

CEBU, Philippines - In an attempt to establish peace among a group of youngsters reportedly having a fight on the dance floor during a benefit dance in barangay Inayawan yesterday dawn, a man ended up getting killed in the process.

Twenty-three-year-old Jeremiah Galupo, a resident of White Road in Inayawan, was killed after he tried to pacify the group. The suspect turned his ire on him, taking the move as an “act of meddling.”

Mae Ann Galupo, the 15-year-old sister of the victim, told the police that she was with her elder brother and some friends in a benefit dance at 2:30 a.m. when a commotion ensued at the dance hall. This reportedly prompted Jeremiah to approach a group in a move to pacify them when, suddenly, a certain “Jeprox” shot him from behind.

The wounded victim was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center but was declared there dead on arrival. The suspect is nowhere to be found.

Few minutes before the incident, Christian John Gutierrez, 18, an out-of-school resident of 262 F. Llamas Street in Punta Princesa also landed at the hospital after he was shot by three youngsters in barangay Tisa. The suspects were identified as a certain “Yu” of sitio Kalyehon, barangay Labangon; a certain “Ison” or “Jason” of sitio Tambisan, Tisa; and one John Michael Castro of Katipunan, Labangon.

Gutierrez told the police that he was with his two friends sitting on the pavement when a red Honda Wave motorcycle with plate numbers 2459-GL driven by Castro with the two other suspects riding in pillion passed by and then shot him before fleeing.

The victim, who was hit in the right forearm and in the right torso, was taken to the Chong Hua Hospital where he is now confined.

Investigation further showed that the motorcycle was taken from the possession of one Elizalde Momo, 16 years old, of Villa Elena also in Tisa.

Police said if not for personal grudge, the suspects could have shot the victim out of “sheer thrill.” — Niña G. Sumacot/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)