Suspect in shooting of 3 foreigners in Cebu falls

CEBU CITY–Police have arrested one of at least four men involved in the killing of a German engineer and wounding of a Frenchman and an Indian at a fast-food outlet in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City, about 12 km south of here.

Allan Velos, 35, was arrested inside his residence in Barangay San Isidro, Talisay City at about 6:20 p.m. on Friday.

The arrest came 14 hours after the shooting incident that killed Henry Haffner, a 31-year-old German tourist; and wounded French national Julian Millard, 31; and Indian national Cheten Saparaiya, 31.

Velos was identified by a witness as one of the assailants.

Supt. Carmelo Dayon, Talisay City Police chief, said Velos was involved in several robberies in south Cebu.

Last month, Velos was involved in a shootout with Talisay policemen who were serving an arrest warrant for another person, he added.

The suspect was detained at the police station and refused to talk to reporters.

Velos, however, denied involvement in Friday’s shooting when interrogated by the police.

Velos, who claimed to be a television and electronics technician, told the police that he was sleeping at home at the time of the attack.

Recovered from Velos’ house was a gun, which would be subjected to ballistics test to find out if it matched the slugs taken from the crime scene.

Velos will also undergo paraffin test to determine if he recently fired a gun.

Around 4:20 a.m. last Friday, two unidentified men arrived at McDonald’s  in Barangay Tabunok and taunted Millard and Saparaiya who were eating with a Filipina companion inside the fast-food joint.

One of the men said “dili pautang. . . pautanga mi, Turko! (He won’t lend us money… Loan us some money Turk.)”

They were referring to the stereotype that Indians were money lenders.

Saparaiya, who understood what the derogatory words meant, confronted the two.  A heated argument then ensued between the two groups.

When the restaurant’s security guard came over to pacify them, the two local men left.

Haffner, a tourist from Germany who temporarily settled in barangay Tisa, Cebu City, and his girlfriend were sitting at the next table.

They were about to leave the restaurant when the two men returned with two companions.

According to the police, three of the four men were armed that time.

Saparaiya and Millard were also ready to leave the restaurant when they saw the armed men.

The two foreigners hurriedly ran back inside as the assailants shot them.

The assailants fired several shots. The two were hit but managed to hide at the establishment’s comfort room.

The gunmen later escaped on board three motorcycles.

Haffner, a member of a group which helped calamity victims in Bohol and northern Cebu in 2013, was brought to the Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City but he later died of multiple gunshot wounds in his body.

Millard was wounded in the left arm and left foot, while Saparaiya was hit in the nape.

The two foreigners, who were married to Filipinas, were in stable condition at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Police recovered from the crime scene at least 16 empty shells from .9mm, five empty shells from a .45 caliber pistol, deformed slugs, and a deformed bullet.

Two of the assailants, who were armed with .40 pistols, were videotaped by the restaurant’s closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. However, their identities have yet to be verified.

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