Police Lt. Col. Sherlock Gabana, spokesperson of the BCPO, said that cleared cases are those incidents in which suspects were identified but not arrested and cases have been filed in court.
Incidents that were considered cleared were the killings of Jose Allan Braza, a police asset, in Barangay 35 on June 8 under Police Station 1; Jose Allan Braza, a caretaker of a private property in Barangay Alangilan on June 5 under Police Station 5; Adonis Matulac, an alleged drug personality in Barangay Singcang-Airport on June 16 under Police Station 8; and a 17-year-old boy in Barangay Singcang-Airport on June 22 under Police Station 8.
Gabana said that murder charges have filed against the identified perpetrators of these incidents.
Also cleared was the gun attack against Kim Ryan Canillo in Barangay Alijis on June 26 under Police Station 7. Canillo survived the attack and frustrated murder charges have been filed against two perpetrators on a motorcycle.
Aside from these, Gabana said that three cases under Police Stations 4, 6, and 9 have been solved.
Gabana said the shooting incident under Police Station 4 in Barangay 26 on June 21, involving a policeman, was considered solved since the suspect was arrested.
Police Master Sgt. Jeff Desucatan was arrested after he allegedly shot Richard Jimenez, following an altercation that erupted when Jimenez confronted the law enforcer about his relationship with his former girlfriend.
Jorem Sibug was allegedly hit by a stray bullet while he was on his way home that night. However, Gabana said that Desucatan was released from police custody on June 21, two days after the incident, after Jimenez executed an affidavit of non-interest to file a case, following a settlement with Desucatan.
Gabana also said that Sibug who was supposed to file a case for serious physical injuries against Descuatan but was not granted by the fiscal as he failed to provide evidence or witness that the bullet that injured him came from the policeman’s service firearm.
Despite this, Gabana said that Desucatan is still under investigation for his administrative liability while he is rendering duty as desk officer of Police Station 2.
In Police Station 9, where the first shooting incident last month was reported, two counts of frustrated murder was filed against the identified suspect who injured Michael Diopeta and Jemar Berja in Barangay Sum-Ag on June 1.
As for the case in Police Station 6, Gabana said that the family of Christofer Guanzon who was killed in Barangay 31 on June 19 executed an affidavit of non-interest to pursue the filing of case, thus, police considered it solved, since there is no complainant.
For unsolved cases, Gabana said that these included the killings of Chinese businessman Jeffrey Keng Seng in Barangay 5 on June 14 under Police Station 2; tricycle driver Jestoni Sabare in Barangay 13 on June 11 under Police Station 1; a 14-year-old boy in Barangay Vista Alegre on June 23 under Police Station 7; a certain “Bryan” in Barangay Banago on June 17 under Police Station 3; and alleged notorious thief Mark Decolongon in Barangay 8 on June 28 under Police Station 2, considered the last shooting incident reported last month.
Gabana said that perpetrators of these incidents remain unidentified, but police are exploring various angles to establish a lead.
Of the 13 shootings, 10 deaths were reported, including the killings of two minors. Out of the 10 police stations here, only Police Station 10 has no record of a shooting incident last month.
Police had earlier said that most of the shooting incidents were drug-related, considering the background of the victims.
With these incidents, the BCPO has conducted random checkpoint operations against motorcycle-riding individuals, since most of the perpetrators were using motorcycles in committing the crime.
Despite the series of shooting incidents last month, the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas did not consider it alarming, as the city police force is on top of the situation.
The regional police office maintained that the cases were manageable since crime incidents in general did not increase.
Police Lt. Col. Arnel Solis, PRO-Western Visayas spokesperson, said that the BCPO was ordered to maximize police visibility, as he appealed to the people to help the police in crime prevention.