Fortun: I was the target

MANILA, Philippines - Lawyer Raymond Fortun yesterday expressed belief that the gunman who shot his wife Caroline was really after him.

“My wife is a saint. The target was me,” he said.

Fortun said Caroline is doing fine and will undergo a minor procedure to clean and cauterize her wounds.

He added Caroline, 43, is now stable at the Perpetual Help Hospital in Las Piñas City after being shot in the face at close range Thursday night.

“She is doing well. No damage to major organs,” Fortun said in a text message.

He said the type of gun used in the shooting has yet to be determined as police investigators have to find the bullet that hit his wife in the right cheek and exited at the nape.

Fortun, now among the country’s most sought after wedding photographers, had just arrived in Manila.

“I had come from a wedding shoot in Iloilo. The plane arrived around 6:30 p.m. but I was picked up by the driver around 7:10 p.m. I arrived home at around 8:10 and already saw my wife on the ground with security personnel around her,” Fortun said.

“It was the worst nightmare imaginable. I know I was sobbing and my lawyers were trying to restrain me,” he added.

Fortun said he gathered his composure and rushed Caroline to the hospital.

Caroline was conscious despite sustaining gunshot wounds in the right cheek and nape.

Fortun said Caroline recalled how she was attacked.

“She remembers a motorcycle behind her but did not see who,” he said.

Police said Caroline had just arrived at their house in BF Homes in Almanza, Las Piñas at 8:05 p.m. Thursday from serving at a mass at the Holy Trinity Church.

She was parking her black Mitsubishi Lancer (POR-394) when the two gunmen approached her from behind.

Police said one of the men pulled out a gun and shot Caroline at close range. The gunmen then fled on a motorcycle.

Caroline used to work at a bank but resigned to become her husband’s law firm finance manager.

“She is a saint. Prayerful and patient. She is loving and supportive in every way. She is a great role model for our kids,” Fortun said.