Cebuano cager Franz Dysam of the Letran Knights is now in stable condition but will still undergo surgery today to remove bullets in his body after he and his girlfrient Joanne Sordan were ambushed Saturday night near the corner of N. Domingo and Araneta Avenue in San Juan City.
Dysam, a former stalwart of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Baby Panthers and a former juniors Mythical Five member of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. here in Cebu, suffered six gunshot wounds while protecting Sordan, a statement from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran said. Sordan didn’t survive the attack.
“Franz is conscious and is already aware of the passing of his girlfriend, Joanne,” the statement said. “Like a gallant knight, Franz protected his girlfriend during the incident that got him six gun shot wounds. While only one shot was received by his girlfriend, it was too fatal that she was declared dead on arrival by the hospital where they were first brought. Their three-month old child is safe.”
Sordan, who died at round 8 p.m. at the San Juan Medical Center where she and the cager were first brought, was earlier reported as Dysam’s wife, but the statement released yesterday identified her as the Knight’s girlfriend.
The family of the 24-year-old point guard from Cebu, which includes his mother, is already in Manila. No visitors were allowed at the hospital where he was transferred, while “two police officers and Letran personal security were already deployed to ensure his safety.” Authorities are not disclosing the name of the hospital where Dysam is in for security reasons.
The police investigating the case already have a lead but won’t disclose it yet. A closed-circuit television footage which captured the shooting is already with them.
Several reports have it that business feud and love triangle are among the motives for the shooting.
In a report at interaksyon.com, investigators said business might be the motive since Sordan is a casino financier. Police also initially said they were looking into a possible love triangle because Dysam informed probers that Sordan had a former policeman-boyfriend who was harassing them. She also had an ex-boyfriend who is a basketball player.
Dysam and Sordan came from the Knights’ 61-53 win over the Lyceum Pirates in the NCAA on Saturday when two men on a motorcycle opened fire on their car. /with reports from inquirer.net and interaksyon.com