Mayor accompanies cops in search of road rage shooting suspect
Members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Cebu City Police Office raids the home of David Lim Jr., the alleged road rage shooter, on Sunday night, March 19, 2017. (Photo from Facebook page of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña)
CEBU CITY — Police officers, accompanied by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, raided on Sunday night a condominium unit and a house in Maria Luisa Subdivision in Cebu City in search of the scion of a Filipino-Chinese businessman who shot a nurse in a fit of anger following a traffic altercation earlier in the morning.
But the joint team from the Cebu City Police Office’s Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (IDMB), the homicide section and Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) failed to find David Lim Jr.
Chief Insp. Ryan Devaras, IDMB head, said police officers first went to Winland Tower on Juana Osmena Extension, where David owned a unit, past 6 p.m.
When they didn’t find the suspect, Devaras said they proceeded to Maria Luisa Subdivision, a posh development in Cebu City where Lim’s family lives.
He said they talked to Lim’s parents, who claimed they didn’t know where their son was.
“They allegedly don’t know where their son ism” Devaras said. “But they are willing to coordinate with the police. As of now, we are conducting a hot pursuit operation against David Jr.”
The raids were conducted without warrants but on orders of Mayor Osmeña.
In a post on his Facebook page, the mayor said he had applied for an arrest warrant.
But he said: “The judge has refused to issue me a warrant of arrest. I have ordered SWAT to execute the raid on David Lim’s house. I accept all legal responsibility.”
As of 11:20 p.m., his post has garnered more than 8,700 likes and 2,054 shares.
In the comment section of his post, Osmena said he had informed President Rodrigo Duterte of the raids through a text message he sent to Secretary Christopher “Bong” Go, special assistant to the president.
His text message read: “Hi Bong, fyi lang, tonight I personally raided the house of David Lim, brother to Peter. His son was captured on video this morning shooting a nurse. The judge in Cebu refused to issue a warrant of arrest and the police refused to move with no warrant until I threatened to perform the raid by myself. Please tell the President that I need help getting an arrest warrant ASAP so a hold departure order can be placed. This is beyond me na. Need help.”
In another post, he wrote that they were expanding the search to one Tamae Takahashi, who was allegedly with Lim during the road rage shooting.
David Jr is the nephew of Peter Lim. His father, David Sr. is the youngest of the four Lim siblings. The eldest is Peter who gained national prominence recently after President Duterte identified a certain “Peter Lim” as among the biggest drug lords in the country.
Peter Lim then met with the president to deny that he was the Peter Lim referred to in Duterte’s drug matrix.
David Sr. also figured in a traffic accident last March 4. His Nissan GT-R sports car hit a motorcycle and killed the rider, a fish dealer on his way to buy fish to sell in the market.
David Jr. was caught on video shooting Ephraim Montalbo Nuñal, a nurse, following a traffic altercation on F. Sotto Street in Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City.
Nuñal suffered gunshot wounds in the left leg and right ankle.
Interviewed in his hospital bed, Nuñal said that he came from a party and was bringing home his friends home. Hhe was following a Mercedes Benz that was criss-crossing the road. The luxury vehicle then stopped in the middle of the road.
He honked his horn to call the attention of the driver who later got out and was seen arguing with his female companion, who went out of the car. He later identified the man sa David Jr. based on the photograph shown to him.
“The man went out of the car and was very angry,” Nuñal said. “I also went out of the car and told him to move and not to block the way.”
The man, who appeared drunk and whose face flushed angrily, tried to punch Nuñal, who was able to parry the blow.
The suspect then went back to his car to get his gun.
Nuñal said he didn’t see the gun at first because his view was blocked by the woman who was pleading to the man to calm down.
The man, however, brushed aside the woman. He pointed his gun at Nuñal and fired several times.
“Nibarog ra g’yud ko. Wala ko kita nga nagdala na siya sa iyahang pusil kay natabunan siya sa babaye. Didto nako kita nga naa siyay pusil pag-isa niya sa kamot and shot me,” Nuñal said.
(“I was just standing there. I didn’t see that he had a gun because he was blocked by the woman. I only saw the gun when he raised his hand and shot me.”)
Although wounded, Nuñal grabbed his phone inside the car and took a photo of the plate number of the Mercedes Benz as it sped off.
The police later recovered two slugs of a .22-caliber pistol and a live ammunition from the crime scene.
As it happened, a motorist was able to take a video of the incident. The motorist took Nuñal to the hospital because none of his two companions knew how to drive. /atm
