PHILIPPINE officials met with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to seek justice for Filipino lawyer John Albert “Jal” Laylo, who was gunned down in the city early Saturday while visiting relatives.
Referring to the 35-year-old lawyer’s mother Leah Bustamante Laylo, who herself was injured in the attack, Consul General to New York Elmer Cato said they conveyed to Mayor Kenney “the sentiments of Mrs. Laylo and the position of the Philippine government, and underscore the great importance we place on the immediate resolution of this case.”
Cato and Philippine police attaché Brig. Gen. Joseph Lopez met the Philadelphia mayor and Pennsylvania police Tuesday.
Laylo and his mother were visiting families and friends in the US. They were on their way to the airport to catch a morning flight to Chicago when the Uber car they were riding at was shot at by an armed man on board a black Cadillac.
One of six bullets passed through Laylo’s head, rendering him in critical condition at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. He passed on Sunday morning. His mother sustained shrapnel wounds. The Uber driver was unscathed.
Cato said Mrs. Laylo is “still in anguish, she’s angry and she wants justice.”Pennsylvania police are looking at a theory of a mistaken identity, local media in Philadelphia reported. Based on surveillance camera videos along 38th and Spruce streets and its neighborhood, the police believe that the gunman was supposed to target another Nissan car near the vehicle that Laylo and his mother were riding in.
“The case is a targeted shooting, but of mistaken identity,” CBS Philly 3’s Joe Holden tweeted. “Police say the shooter was in a black Cadillac. Video shows the Cadillac in close proximity to another Nissan (not Laylo’s Uber) blocked before reaching the intersection of 38 & Spruce. Police believe the shooter fired as many as 15 shots into the ‘wrong’ Nissan.”
Prior to Laylo’s killing, there had been an upsurge in gun violence cases in Philadelphia. On Saturday, the same day Laylo was shot at, there were eight separate shootings that killed two people and injured five others.
Filipino community members held a vigil outside the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, praying that justice be served for Laylo and expressing concern over the increasing incidents of gun violence in Philadelphia.
“We thank @PhillyMayor Jim Kenney and @PhillyPolice for their assurance that they will do everything they can to bring to justice whoever is responsible for the death of our kababayan John Albert Laylo,” Cato tweeted.
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