A barangay fiesta celebration turned bloody when a 22-year-old man was shot dead by an unidentified lone gunman in a disco in barangay Estaca, Compostela town in northern Cebu yesterday dawn.
A 12-year-old boy identified as Christopher Basay was hit by a stray bullet in the same area. Police identified the fatality as Reynaldo “Monkey” Paras. Basay is recuperating in a Cebu City hospital.
Cebu police are looking into fraternity rivalry as the cause behind the shooting.
They said the perpetrators maybe members of the Alpha Kappa Rho (AKHRO) fraternity.
Paras reportedly came from a drinking spree in a nearby chapel of the disco area and stood beside the disco area watching other people dance when the gunman arrived at 4 a.m and shot him in the nape.
Police said the bullet exited in Paras’ mouth hitting Basay who was dancing nearby.
Basay sustained a gunshot wound on his left and right thigh.
Paras and Basay were rushed to a Cebu City hospital where Paras was declared dead by attending doctors. They said witnesses saw three men who ran after the shooting.
Police said the two men may have served as look-outs for the gunman. “It was possible that Paras was mistakenly identified as a member of AKHRO’s rival fraternity,” said PO2 Arnie Goc-ong of the Compostela police in Cebuano. /Reporter Rhea Ruth V. Rosell