Cops hunt down suspects in Molo shooting
Police are still tracking down the suspect in the shooting of Chris Vincent Dela Llana, 27 years old, and his cousin Reynaldo Bedanio, 25, in Molo district Wednesday night.
Dela Llana succumbed to four gunshot wounds at his back while Bedanio is still recuperating at a hospital. Both are residents of Asico Subdivision in Brgy Salvacion, Molo.
Witnesses said the victims had an altercation with two males outside the 24-hour store Starmart in Caltex gasoline station near the Molo plaza around 12 midnight.
Minutes later both parties exchanged blows which prompted one of the suspects to fire warning shots. After hearing gunfires Dela Llana and Bedanio tried to run away but the other suspect managed to get his gun from a car then immediately fired at the victims.
Witnesses heard seven gunfires. Then they saw Dela Llana fell down in the middle of the road across the gasoline station.
The suspects immediately escaped on board a black Honda Civic with plate number FFJ-124 towards Barangay Tabucan, Mandurriao.
Meanwhile, the victims were brought by the tricycle drivers present in the area to the nearby Saviour International Hospital where a few hours later Dela Llana expired.
Police investigators recovered nine empty shells of .9 mm caliber pistol a one empty shell of .45 caliber pistol from the crime scene.
Molo police station chief Senior Insp. Danilo Delos Santos said they are already tracking the whereabouts of the suspects.
He said they were able to trace the owner of the getaway car through its plate number.
Delos Santos, however, said they will still check if the registered owner listed in the record of the Land Transportation Office is still the one using the car.
Dela Llana, who is on vacation from the United States, is the grandchild of former Vice Mayor Guillermo Dela Llana.
The former vice mayor asked the authorities to immediately solve the case as he appealed to the suspects to voluntarily surrender.
Dela Llana believes that the incident was just a result of the altercation between the two groups.
He dismissed the possibility that the shooting was related to the killing of his other grandchild who was stabbed in Gen. Luna St. last month.
Meanwhile, it can be noted that the scene of the incident was only about a hundred meters away from the Molo police station.