NAGA CITY – A lone gunman fired his cal.45 handgun nine times and hit his target five times in broad daylight Wednesday morning, shortly after most of the students in a Catholic Filipino - Chinese school along busy Panganiban avenue here have reported to their classrooms for the morning rituals.

        Witnesses from business establishments along the side of the road that include a bank and a gasoline station saw the whole incident in horror as the unidentified suspect, his face concealed by a full face helmet, vented his deathly ire on the target.

        Killed while pleading for his life after the volley of initial shots was Dante Bravante, 47 years old, of Sierra Madre Street, Liboton, this city, who sustained wounds on his head and different parts of the body while on board a tricycle on the way home.

        He was with his 19-year old son, RJ, who was able to run away on foot unhurt as he was obviously not a target of the motorcycle-riding gunman, witnesses said.

        The tricycle’s driver, identified as Jaime Maleniza, was rushed to the hospital after the gunman fled, for serious wounds inflicted by stray bullets. He remained at the hospital in critical condition as this report was filed.

        Investigation by authorities showed that no police officers were on sight during that fatal moment as they temporarily headed to return to the headquarters for redeployment after manning the traffic and school-bound students during the early morning rush hour.

        Witnesses said the gunman managed to replace his deadly magazine to finish off the victim who pleaded for his life, in vain. Then, the suspect returned the smoking weapon on its holster and headed south undisturbed as there was no policeman in sight along the way.

Investigation
        Police investigators said they now have clues on the identity of the killer as they revealed that three days before the incident, the gunman, along with a butcher at the public market section, whose name was withheld pending investigation, had been reported to have cased or conducted a surveillance of the victim’s home and his daily routine from home to his work destinations.

        Victim Bravante, it was revealed, was a meat and livestock buyer and dealer.

        Further investigation showed that the victim was himself not a “clean” man. He was once implicated in a murder case a few years ago, a police officer tipped Bicol Mail.

        Police said but would not confirm that the victim and the gunman may have been known to each other and could have tangled in a shady deal over hot meat and missing cattles in the city’s rural barangays at the foot of Mt. Isarog.