The victim, 31-year-old Godofredo Quimsing Jr., who was to be ordained as a priest in April, was on board a Honda Civic along with a companion when unidentified men, also aboard a similar car, drove near them and peppered their vehicle with bullets.
Police found at least 22 empty shells from M-14 and M-16 rifles at the scene. The victim’s vehicle was parked along Ninoy Aquino Avenue, near the Tacloban Sports Complex, during the attack.
Quimsing died before reaching the Divine Word Hospital from gunshot wounds in the left shoulder, lower torso and upper right arm.
Superintendent Arnulfo Cruz, city police chief, vowed to solve the crime at the "soonest possible time" but refused to theorize on the possible motives. Probers, he said, were looking into "different angles."
"The case is very sensitive. But we are trying to build up three angles," he said.
Quimsing’s family refused to answer any media queries. People at Palo Seminary where he studied theology, were also mum, except saying that they were "shocked and sad" over the incident.
"Maybe, it was God’s will," said Fr. Edgar Macalalad, adding he wanted to see the case solved soon.
Romualdez believes it was a case of "mistaken identity" but he refused to elaborate.
Chief Superintendent Dionisio Coloma, Eastern Visayas police director, said the area near the sports complex is where transactions on illegal drugs usually happen.
Acting on public clamor, he installed a police outpost in the area yesterday. He also asked the city government to put up streetlights there.
Police could not say why Quimsing’s vehicle was parked in the area. His male companion, Albert Aranquez, 19, who works in a bakeshop here, said he merely hitched a ride with the victim on Zamora street.
Aranquez said he failed to notice the license plate of the assassins’ car but that he was sure it was a Honda Civic.