Man mistaken for a thief shot dead by girlfriend's octogenarian father
BACOLOD CITY – A 38-year-old man was allegedly shot and killed after he was mistaken for a thief by his girlfriend’s father in Barangay Liptong, Valencia, Negros Oriental on Wednesday, April 2.

A 38-year-old man was killed after he was mistaken as a thief by his girlfriend’s father in Barangay Liptong, Valencia, Negros Oriental on Wednesday, April 2. (Photo via Negros Oriental Police)
Police Lt. Stephen Polinar, spokesperson for Negros Oriental police, said that the 80-year-old suspect woke up past midnight and saw someone sleeping beside his 36-year-old daughter inside their bedroom.
The suspect grabbed his firearm and shot the victim when he woke up.
Polinar said that the suspect did not know that his daughter’s boyfriend would be sleeping at their house that night and suspected him to be a thief.
The suspect and his daughter were sleeping in separate beds but in one bedroom.
Polinar said that they are determining if the suspect’s firearm is licensed. He said the suspect is not exempted from the Commission on Elections gun ban.
He said the suspect admitted the crime but did not confess to this in an extrajudicial confession before a counsel.
The suspect was released from police custody on Thursday, April 3, after the lapse of the 36-hour reglementary detention.
Polinar said that the victim’s family is willing to press charges against the suspect, but the suspect’s daughter, who was the witness in the shooting, is uncooperative.