Gunshots to scare barangay captain?

CEBU, Philippines - An unidentified man indiscriminately fired several shots near the house of the president of the Association of Barangay Council in Dumanjug town past 1:00 a.m. yesterday.

Police Officer 1 Lorenel Labata, desk officer, said that they received the alarm at 1:30 a.m. from Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia who reported that shots were fired near the house of Barangay Captain Antonio Garcia.

Labata said that they immediately responded to the alarm but did not see anybody near the place.

They recovered five empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol along the highway.

Based on the initial investigation, at around 1:20 a.m., witnesses heard bursts of gunfire and a motorcycle was later heard speeding away.

Dumanjug police are now investigating the motive behind the shooting if it was really intended for ABC president Antonio Garcia.

Labata said that there were no traces that the target was Antonio’s residence since his house was not damaged. No other houses were damaged and no one was hurt.

Antonio’s house is located 20 meters away from the highway where the empty shells were recovered, said Labata.

Antonio told The Freeman that politics might be behind the indiscriminate firing, saying that he was not threatened by the incident.

He added that while nobody was hurt and his property was not damaged, he still reported the incident to the police.  (FREEMAN)