3 persons hurt in Lapu-Lapu melee

TWO minors and a woman were hurt during a rumble between two groups of youngsters in barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City Friday night.

An 11-year-old boy and a 48-year-old woman, both bystanders, were hit by stray bullets and were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The 11-year-old boy was hit in the chest and arms while Marisa Toledo of barangay Pusok was hit in the left arm. Both were standing by the roadside when the rumble erupted.

The third victim, a 17-year-old boy, who was involved in the melee, was stabbed and wounded in the left part of the body and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Investigation showed that the four members of the “True Brown Style (TBS)” gang attacked four youths belonging to an unidentified rival gang at 11:30 p.m. During the melee, a member of the TBS gang, pulled out a gun and started shooting.

At this point, the rival gang members fled leaving the 17-year-old TBS member bloodied with a stab wound in the left side of the body.

The police arrived and caught the three TBS members, all 15-year-old boys, after a brief chase.

Witnesses told police that it was a TBS member who used a gun during the rumble.

PO3 Lydo Pinos, homicide investigator of the Lapu-Lapu City police, however, said that they were still trying to identify who really fired the gun.

The TBS members said they couldn’t remember where they threw the gun.

Pinos said the TBS gang is based in barangays Buaya, Bangkal and Pusok.

He said that they were still trying to find out the identity of the rival gang members.

The TBS boys were later turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Services of Lapu-Lapu City.

Pinos said that the boys will be taken to the Operation Second Chance, a facility for juveniles in conflict with the law, in barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City./Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza