VICTIMS ARE MEMBERS OF "BLOODS": 1 dead, 1 hurt in Labangon shooting

CEBU, Philippines - A 19-year-old member of a street gang called “Bloods” was killed while his lesbian companion was wounded after three youngsters, believed to be members of rival group “Crips,” shot at them while they were having a drinking spree on Katipunan Street, Barangay Labangon, Cebu City early morning yesterday.

Jermy Vincent Magtagad, alias “Moymoy,” of Salvador Street, Labangon was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) due to a fatal gunshot wound on the chest.

Magtagad’s companion, Roselyn Dumaog, 23, a resident of the area, sustained two gunshot wounds, one each to the arm and leg and is now confined at the same hospital.

Taxi driver Alex Pangutungan, with the help of the bystanders, brought the two victims to the city hospital.

“Wala’y nahunong nila nga taxi nahadlok siguro. Ako napugos ko paghunong bisan naa ang akong pasahero kay gitionan man ko sa usa sa mga batan-ong og armas. Perti nakong hadloka mao nga nihunong na lang ko,” Pangutungan narrated.

The incident happened at around 3 a.m. along Katipunan Street, Labangon when two of the three alleged members of Crips, armed with undetermined firearms, shot at the group of the victims who were drinking on the area.

“Mga unom gyud mi nag-standby kay ika 40 ka adlaw man to sa among kauban nga napusilan patay sab. Basta diritso lang sila og pamusil namo unya sunod-sunod g’yud ang buto-buto sa armas. Kaila man mi sa ilang mga ang-ga mga Crips man to sila nga taga Banawa,” a 16-year-old Bloods member said.

On November 20 last year, 16-year-old Bloods member John Gilbert Alonzo was killed when unidentified members of Crips shot him in the same area where Magtagad and Dumaog were also attacked. After the incident, the armed youngsters rode a jeepney bound for the city proper.

Police authorities recovered slugs and empty shells of .38 caliber revolver from the crime scene. The store owned by the Lapalna family was also hit by a stray bullet but luckily, no one was hurt. — Ramil V. Ayuman/WAB   (FREEMAN NEWS)