MANILA, Philippines – Two persons of interest are now being tracked by the Quezon City Police District Station 10 in connection with the shooting of actress Kim Chiu’s van last March 4, even as investigators noted that six vehicles similar to the actress passed by the crime scene on the same day.
At a press briefing, QCPD Police Director, Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo said the station has obtained a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage near the crime scene where the two persons of interest appeared.
“Meron tayong hawak na CCTV footage doon sa dalawang person of interest (We already have a CCTV footage on the two persons of interest),” Montejo said.
Chiu’s van, a Hyundai H350, was shot at least seven times by two unidentified gunmen aboard a motorcycle near the UP Town Center Mall in Barangay UP Campus.
The actress, who was inside the van when the incident happened, was unharmed, but could not say who would want to have her killed, noting that she nor her family has no known enemies.
Montejo said that around six to eight vans similar to that of the actress passed by Katipunan Avenue on the same day her vehicle was shot at, three of which had the same black color, further reinforcing the theory that the shooting could be a case of mistaken identity.
“Kino-consider din naman namin na meron tayong nakita na kapareho, tapos inistreamline natin, na ito, the same body color. ‘Yong kapareho, nasa six to eight, pero ‘yong kakulay talaga na kapareho, around three to four,” he said.
(We’re considering that fact that we have seen similarly-built vans, then we streamlined it with the vehicles that had the same body color. There are six to eight similarly-built cars, and around three to four have the same body color.)
Revelations that there were other similar vans that went near the La Vista Subdivision area along Katipunan Avenue bolsters Chiu’s claim that she was a victim of a mistaken identity, as she believes her family has no known enemies, a fact that is not being discounted by investigators.
Montejo said that none of the other vehicles belonged to other artists or celebrities living in the area.