Gunmen shoot widow, store workers in Talamban

Motorcycle-riding gunmen yesterday shot dead two store workers and seriously wounded a female store owner in barangay Talamban, Cebu City.

Robbery was not the apparent motive as the assailants drove off soon after approaching Randy Librando and shooting him in the head.

Librando was standing with a co-worker outside the Talamban Glass store abut 4 p.m. when three men on a motorbike stopped by.

One rider went up to Librando pretending to be a customer and then pulled out a gun and shot him twice.

The shooter then approached store owner Thelma Igot and fired.

She survived the attack. Igot, who is the sister of the other slain employee, store helper Dioscoro Abendan, was taken to the North General Hospital for gunshot wounds in the neck and body.

Librando, a resident of of barangay Basak, Mandaue City, started working at the store this year.He recently filed for the annulment of his marriage.
Police said they are looking into reports that the attack was related to relationship issues.

PO3 Ruth Bongo, homicide investigator of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said some residents in the area told police that the slain worker and Igot, a widow, were close.

Police noted that the gunmen seemed to have targeted the two victims.

The store helper, Abendan, was shot when he tried to attack one of the gunmen.

A second gunman fired at the three victims before all the assailants fled on the motorbike.

A female witness in the store and a 19-year-old nephew of Igot saw the killing, said police.

The assailants did not cover their faces except for the motorcycle driver who wore a full-faced helmet.

Police found several empty shells of a .45 pistol at the scene.

Bongo said police were advised by doctors not to interview the wounded woman yet until she has recovered.