OFW survives random shooting in Janiuay

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Police are still establishing a possible motive behind the shooting that injured an overseas Filipino worker in Janiuay, Iloilo, early evening of May 4.

The victim, identified only as alias “Dexter,” 39, of Celeste Street, Purok 4, Bingawan, Iloilo, sustained a non-life-threatening injury.

According to police reports, Dexter was driving a Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck with three family members from Antique province and was on his way home when the shooting happened.

They temporarily stopped along a roadside in Sitio Kinambud, Barangay Matag-ub, Janiuay, to wait for other relatives who were aboard another vehicle.

After a few minutes, a motorcycle-riding man approached them.

Without any apparent reason, he shot the victim once using an unknown-caliber firearm.

Dexter was hit in the left shoulder.

Capt. Randy Lambungan, Janiuay police chief, said the victim and his companions were caught off guard because the gunman even smiled at them.

“They were taken aback that when he raised his gun, he was armed and immediately shot the victim,” he said.

The assailant did not fire another shot and immediately sped off.

The victim was still able to drive the vehicle to Dr. Ricardo Y. Ladrido Memorial District Hospital in Lambunao town.

He was later transferred to Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center in Iloilo City.

Lambungan said the victim and his companions claimed they were not involved in any road rage incident while traveling through Antique province.

They also said they had no known enemies who would want to physically harm the victim.

The gunman, who was not wearing a crash helmet, was not familiar to them, but they claimed they could identify him if they saw him again.

For now, Lambungan said police have no person of interest and have yet to establish a possible motive behind the gun attack.