BY CALVIN CORDOVA
CEBU CITY — A robbery suspect was gunned down by unidentified men shortly after he stepped out of the Mandaue City Jail on Monday night.
Julivyn Lumingkit Terante, 43, had just posted bail when he was waylaid some 100 meters from the facility.
Terante, a native of Tagum City, was with his live-in partner during the attack, but the woman was unharmed.
Police said the couple was walking along a road in Sitio Superior, Barangay Lo-oc when a Toyota Innova blocked their path.
Armed men alighted from the vehicle, peppered Terante with bullets and sped off.
Terante died on the spot from gunshot wounds in the head and body.
Police Col. Jonathan Abella, chief of the Mandaue City Police Office, said Terante was one of the four men who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the robbery of three jewelry shops, a pawnshop, and a money changer outlet inside the J-Centre Mall in Mandaue in October 2019.
At least P136 million worth of jewelry, cash, and cell phones were stolen during the heist.
Four suspects, including Terante, were arrested while four others were killed in a follow-up operation at a wharf in Bogo City, northern Cebu.
The suspects were about to board a vessel when pursuing police cornered them.
At least five suspects remained at large, Abella said.
Abella said the attack could be the handiwork of the Terante’s cohorts.
“We are still investigating the incident but it is possible that his cohorts got back at them because during the course of the investigation, the arrested suspects provided us the names of their cohorts and that led to the filing of charges against the suspects who are at large,” said Abella.
Abella said the police are ready to assist the other suspects who are in detention should they decide to post bail.
Abella said the police did not know that Terante was set to be released since it was his live-in partner who had been working on his bail. (Calvin D. Cordova)
