Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, deputy city director for operation and current information officer of the Cebu City Police Office (Photo by AYB)
AFTER several days of hunting, the police have finally located the man who allegedly brandished a syringe and inflicted harm on the people outside a mall on Natalio Bacalso Avenue in downtown Cebu City.
The police discovered that the person has a mental illness.
They have been able to identify him after reviewing the mall’s CCTV footage, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, the deputy city director for operations and current information officer of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
The man was rescued by the operatives of Carbon Police Station on Thursday, September 28, 2023, near the mall with the aid of CCTV recording and after he matched the description provided by his victims, who had posted their harrowing experiences on social media.
The police found out that the man was not from Cebu City and was abandoned by his family.
He was still holding a ballpen and a barbecue stick when police apprehended him.
“Atung na find out nga kining tawhana is murag mentally challenged, so that’s why atung gi rescue ug atung gipangingkamotan nato nga ma turn-over either to the family gyud kay unfortunately dili mani taga diri taga syudad sa Sugbo taga lain ni nga lugar. So nakipag coordinate ta together with the barangay captain and as much as possible mahatagan natog intervention,” Rafter said.
(We found that this person appears to have a mental disability, which is why we rescued him and are making steps to return him to his family because he is not from Cebu City but rather from another place. So we worked with the barangay captain as much as possible to provide intervention).
Rafter asserted that they also contacted those who had posted their harrowing experiences in the social media after being victimized by the mentally deranged man to get their statements.
One of the victims who posted about her traumatic experience is Paulette Annika Cahayagan, a student at Cebu Normal University.
According to Cahayagan in an interview with SunStar Cebu, that she was about to cross a pedestrian lane outside the mall around 6 p.m. last Friday, September 22, 2023, when she felt something hit her in the arm with a blunt instrument.
She turned around to see a man going back to his initial position.
“Murag akung nabati kay murag naay sakit kaayo paglingi nako iyang tudlo iya nang gibira pero wala ko kakita sa injection kay ngitngit na. Ang akung nakit-an ang iyang tudlo nga iya nang gibira gikan sa akung bukton, pero naka feel ko nga naa gyuy nitusok sa akoa,” according to Cahayagan.
(I felt something painful and when I looked around I saw him move his hand away, but I couldn’t see the injection because it was dark. I only saw him pulling his hand, but I had the impression of being struck by a sharp object).
Rafter asked the public not to fear despite the incident that later went viral in social media since the police are already handling the matter and more officers have already been stationed near the mall to assure their safety.
In order for them to respond quickly in the event of a crime, an elevated post manned by a police officer has been erected on the island of the road there.
The CCPO urged the public to report anything suspicious to the police station rather than publishing it right away on social media especially if they are unsure of it because doing so can cause panic or worry among the populace, particularly the parents of the students.
“Again we are also appealing sa publiko nga dili ta magpataka og post sa Facebook just for the sake nga naa tay mabutang diha (the public not to post indiscriminately on Facebook just for the sake of posting something). Let us also be responsible kasi kanang lugara diha naay dili taga diri labi na gyud mga estudyante unya naay mga ginikanan nga dili taga Cebu nga wala kabalo sa sitwasyon sa Cebu so mabalaka gyud na sila (because there are people in that area, including the students and the parents, who are not from Cebu, so they would be worried),” Rafter said.
As of this writing, the Cebu City police have not yet received any reports about the ‘injection incident.’(AYB, TPT)
