Road rage suspect David Lim Jr. claimed he was merely defending himself when he fired a gun after a traffic altercation.
“I fired a warning shot on the ground, as you can see in the video, he directly went to me so i just had to restrain him.. I don’t know what he might do,” Lim told reporters Tuesday, hours after he surrendered to cops, with help from President Rodrigo Duterte’s aide Bong Go.
Lim also denied driving wayward, as he urged the camp of his supposed victim Ephraim Nuñal to produce proof that he was not driving properly.
Read: Gunman still at large after shooting a nurse in traffic altercation
“They know from the very beginning that I wasn’t driving zigzag. They kept honking, more than 5 seconds honking. The two cars kept honking at my back,” Lim said.
LOOK: Mug shot of David Lim Jr., suspect of road rage incident in Cebu City | via @DYABTELERADYO pic.twitter.com/IooV8rHzoA
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) March 21, 2017
“If they have the video, a copy of it, where they can prove that I was zigzag, then go. I also have proof that I wasn’t really driving zigzag,” he added.
Lim recalled that when he got off the car to check what was happening, passengers of the other vehicle were shouting at him.
“They kept shouting at me. Then I saw his male companions, I saw more than 1, 2, that’s when I felt threatened,” added Lim.
Lawyer Orlando Salatandre, who represents Lim, said their camp may also file counter-charges. Lim is facing frustrated homicide and illegal possession of loose firearms.
Read: The search continues for scion of prominent family involveed in Cebu shooting incident
Cebu City Police Office Director, Senior Supt. Joel Doria said Lim’s companion, identified as Tamae Takahashi, might be facing charges for being accessory to the crime.
Two witnesses already submitted their affidavit, police added.
Lim, who surrendered Tuesday with help from presidential aide Bong Go, is accused of shooting 33-year-old nurse Ephraim Nuñal. A video of the Sunday incident has since made rounds online.
Salatandre questioned the video, saying it appears edited.
Lim “surrendered for safe keeping only,” the lawyer added, while denying the shooting suspect was getting special treatment from the Philippine National Police.
Central Visayas police director, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño said Lim stayed at his office.
Lim, nephew of an alleged drug lord, meanwhile underwent booking procedures.
Lim surrendered at the PNP Regional Office 7 in Cebu around 2 a.m. after negotiations between his family and authorities.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s top aide, Christopher “Bong” Go facilitated the negotiations on Monday after cops failed to find and arrest Lim during a raid in his home, according to Taliño.
Duterte’s executive assistant, however, denied that he is personally acquainted with the Lim family, whom he said only reached him through the help of a Davao City resident.
Jun Salatandre, Lim’s lawyer, denied that the suspect was given special treatment while in police custody amid reports that he was detained in an air-conditioned room.
The suspect is a nephew of Peter Lim, whom Duterte tagged as a drug trafficker in July last year. Peter denied his alleged drug links in a meeting with the President in Malacañang.
Nuñal said he honked his horn at Lim after the latter stopped his Mercedes Benz in the middle of the road.
Their argument escalated into a fistfight that ended with David shooting Nuñal.
Lim said he only shot the nurse when he saw the latter’s companions getting out of their vehicle, according to Taliño.
— With reports from Carine Asutilla Lapid, John Lapid and Angelica Fay Saniel, ABS-CBN News.
This article first appeared on ABS-CBN News, and is republished with permission.
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