Sleeping man shot dead in Passi City home

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A 59-year-old man was shot dead while sleeping at his sister’s home in Passi City, Iloilo, shortly after midnight July 9.

The victim, identified only by the alias Jerry, was believed to have died immediately after the shooting.

Reports said Jerry was sleeping on the lanai of his younger sister’s house in Barangay Cabunga when the attack occurred.

Jerry’s sister, Nene, said she and her husband were sleeping in their bedroom when their son, John, woke them.

John, who had been sleeping with a sibling in an adjacent room, told his parents that he had heard what sounded like gunfire.

He told them to take cover while he checked on his uncle.

John later told his parents that Jerry appeared to have been shot in the abdomen.

Nene then instructed her son to contact their cousin, a barangay councilor, and report the incident to police.

Officers from the Passi City Police Station recovered a 12-gauge shotgun shell outside the residence.

Responders from the Passi City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office examined Jerry and confirmed his death.

Passi City police chief Lt. Col. German Magbanua III said investigators had yet to determine the motive or identify a person of interest.

Jerry’s family said they were unaware of anyone who might have wanted to harm him.

Jerry had returned to Passi City about a month before the shooting after previously working in the town of Pavia.