By JOEY NACALABAN
Correspondent

GITAGUM town police officers have launched a manhunt for the suspects in the shooting death of a cockfighting aficionado on Friday night.

Capt. Ron Daba, Gitagum police station commander, identified the victim as Norlie Donque, 20, a resident of Purok 5, Barangay Quezon in Gitagum.

Daba said that even though their investigators don’t know the identities of the suspect, they are already following promising leads.

The victim succumbed to four gunshot wounds to the different parts of his body.

Daba said Doque was walking with a female friend from the upper portion of Matangad when suddenly motorcycle-riding men appeared and the passenger shot him several times.

After the incident, the motorcycle sped off towards an unknown direction.

Responding law enforcers found four empty shells coming from a caliber .45 pistol at the crime scene.

Daba said their initial investigation of the killing, the victim figured in an altercation with another cockfighting aficionado inside the cockpit in Gitagum.

“Ingon pa sa among informant nga tungod adto nga lalis gibaharan siya (Donque) nga patyon,” Daba said.

He added that weeks before the killing, Donque figured in a brawl during one of the barangay festivities in the area.

Daba said they are looking at all possible angles just to get the real motive behind the killing.

Meanwhile, two drinking buddies were hospitalized after they were shot to the legs by a guard in one of the relocation sites in Barangay Indahag, this city, at 1 am Saturday.

 City police director Henry Dampal identified the victims as Ricky Eniales 30, of Lunocan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, and Trives Egos, 32, of Gallego, Camarines Sur.

The two were drunk when they were shot by the guard identified as Arnold Atienza, 26, of Barra, Opol in Misamis Oriental.

He surrendered to Cogon police station minutes after the incident and yielded a .38 caliber revolver.

The incident happened inside Amaya Subdivision where Atienza.  A police report showed that before the incident, the two victims were having a fistfight near the guard’s outpost.

Atienza, who saw the duo, attempted to pacify them but was instead attacked by the victims and tried to grab his firearm.

“Wala na gyud koy mahimo gawas sa pag-pusil nila kay sa mailog akong armas ako na hinoon ang madisgrasya,” Atienza said.

Eniales and Egos were rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center.