Apas shooting leaves 2 dead

Two men were shot dead along Dagohoy Street, barangay Apas last Friday evening after a fight over a noisy dog.

According to police reports, Cristito Pontanar, 72, and his son Esmeraldo, 41, were shot dead by Pontanar’s son-in-law, retired Air Force master sergeant Nestor Bugarin, 48.

SPO2 Rey Cuyos of the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office said it was Esmeraldo’s wife Maria Glen who confronted Anecita, the wife of the suspect and also the daughter of Cristito, about the noise caused by Anecita’s dog.

This led to a heated argument and when Esmeraldo arrived and tried to pacify the women, the suspect came out of his house and started shooting at the couple with a .45 cal. pistol.

Esmeraldo was shot in the torso while Maria Glen was hit in the right buttocks. Their son Paulo, 13, who was watching the argument, was hit in the abdomen.

Cristito heard the commotion and went out of the house to try to pacify things, but was also shot by Bugarin.

A parked Mitsubishi car with plate number GFX-798 owned by their neighbor Eleonor Carloman was also hit by bullets.

The helper of the victim immediately called up the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation personnel, who then rushed the victims to Perpetual Succour Hospital. But Esmeraldo and his father were both declared dead.

According to the victim’s relatives, it has been two years since the siblings quarreled over parking space and the alleged unequal sharing of the wealth of their parents as there were insinuations that one of them got the bigger piece of the pie.

Nestor Bugarin fled before the police arrived, his family is also nowhere to be found.  – Edwin Ian Melecio/BRP