Armed man nabbed in checkpoint linked to Lapu-Lapu ambush-slay

A man arrested in a checkpoint for carrying a firearm was linked to the killing of a couple in barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

Police said two witnesses identified Arnel Gomez, 34, a resident of barangay Pahina Central, Cebu City, as the one who ambushed Petronilo Wagas, 37, and his partner Esie Villegas, 40, last Wednesday night.

Police said Gomez was arrested after he tried to evade a checkpoint on Balagtas Street in barangay Pahina past 2 a.m. last Thursday.

A brief chase occurred before police cornered Gomez.

A .45 caliber pistol was seized from Gomez’s possession, said police.

Gomez was detained at the Cebu City Police Office where policemen from Lapu-Lapu City brought two witnesses in the couple’s ambush to identify him.

Gomez denied involvement in the killings.

Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, chief of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said the gun seized from Gomez will be subjected for a ballistic test to find out if it was the same firearm used in the killing of the couple.

Wagas and Villegas were ambushed by an assailant wearing a full-faced helmet.

Wagas was driving a passenger multicab with Villegas when the gunman opened fire at them.

The assailant fled on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice.

Police are eyeing personal grudges as possible motive for the killing.

Before the murder, Villegas was assisting a woman who filed a complaint against a female neighbor in barangay Basak for allegedly attacking her.

The husband of the woman accused of attacking her neighbor allegedly threatened to shoot anyone who would stand as a witness in the incident./CORRESPONDENT NORMAN V. MENDOZA