Probers eye at business partner of trader slain in Cebu City

The bullet-riddled Mitsubishi Montero is secured at the Mabolo Police Station in Cebu City following the ambush of businessman Jeffrey Gomonit Sunday night. Dale Israel/INQUIRER VISAYAS

CEBU CITY –– Police investigators are looking at a former “business partner” as a person of interest in the killing of businessman Jeffrey Gomonit in an ambush Sunday night in Cebu City.

Police Capt. Dexter Basirgo, chief of the Mabolo Police Station, said before the incident, his former business partner called up the victim and they met at Park Mall in Mandaue City.

A few minutes after their meeting, Basirgo said Gomonit was killed by supposedly hired assailants.

Gomonit’s wife also supported the statement of the police.

“One of our analysis is that he was set up to go to the area so that the perpetrators can get his whereabouts,” said Basirgo.

From Park Mall in Mandaue City, Gomonit was shot several times while driving his Mitsubishi Montero SUV near SM City Cebu around 9 p.m. The distance between the two malls is about 3 kilometers.

The crime scene is also a busy junction and just at the opposite corner of the Mabolo Police Station or less than 50 meters away.

Mabolo police investigators and the Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered three empty shells and one live ammunition on site.

The 49-year-old Gomonit is a native of Ramon Magsaysay, Zamboanga del Sur. He was residing in Mandaue City, Cebu.

Police said Gomonit was about to make a U-turn at the junction. The backrider of the motorcycle alighted and shot the vehicle several times. Three of the bullets bore holes and hit the victim.

Witnesses told police investigators that the two male suspects were wearing masks and black jackets.

The Gomonit family relocated in Cebu about two years ago with their hauling business, said the police.

They had a copra business in Zamboanga del Sur before coming to Cebu.

Basirgo said they were checking the CCTV in Mandaue and establishments near the crime scene to check the identities of the suspects who escaped./lzb