A personal grievance had become a public tragedy
On a Sunday morning in Cotabato City, a man's private jealousy spilled into a public street, and by the time the gunfire ended, an innocent tricycle driver was dead, a child was wounded, and a police officer lay injured — all because of a suspected affair that the officer himself denied. Within a day, the suspect was caught at a routine checkpoint, undone by a missing license plate and an unlicensed pistol. The case is a reminder that personal grievance, once armed, rarely confines its damage to its intended target.
- A man named Jamir fired three shots at a police corporal in broad daylight on a busy Cotabato City street, driven by the belief that the officer was having an affair with his wife.
- Stray bullets struck and killed tricycle driver Nasser Gapor, who had no part in the dispute, and wounded a child riding as his passenger — transforming a targeted attack into a public tragedy.
- Jamir fled but was stopped at a police-military checkpoint the following day, caught by the mundane detail of a missing license plate that led officers to find an unlicensed .45 caliber pistol.
- He admitted to the mayor what he had done and why, and the case was swiftly classified as a crime of passion — a label that names the motive but cannot restore what was lost.
- Jamir now faces charges of murder, frustrated murder, and illegal firearm possession, while the family of Nasser Gapor is left to absorb a loss that was never meant for them.
On the morning of July 12, a 29-year-old man known as Jamir rode alongside Police Corporal Titing Kauring on Jose Lim Street in Cotabato City and fired three times. Kauring was hit but survived. He later denied Jamir's claim — that the officer had been involved with Jamir's wife.
The bullets did not stop with their intended target. Tricycle driver Nasser Gapor was struck by stray fire and killed. A child passenger in his tricycle was also wounded. In seconds, a private grievance had become a public tragedy, and an ordinary working man did not make it home.
By Monday afternoon, Jamir's flight had ended at a police-military checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion 9, where officers flagged him for a missing license plate. A search turned up an unlicensed .45 caliber pistol. When Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao spoke with him, Jamir admitted what he had done and why — jealousy, not organized crime, had pulled the trigger.
Police Col. Jibin Bongcayao declared the case closed. Jamir now faces charges of murder for Gapor's death, frustrated murder for the attack on Kauring, and illegal possession of a firearm. The arrest was swift. What the courts cannot undo is the weight of a life taken from a man who simply went to work that morning.
A 29-year-old man opened fire on a police officer in broad daylight on a Cotabato City street Sunday morning, and by Monday afternoon he was in custody. The suspect, known as Jamir, was stopped at a police-military checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion 9 after officers noticed his motorcycle had no license plate. When they searched him, they found an unlicensed .45 caliber pistol. That discovery closed a case that had left one person dead and two others wounded.
Jamir, who lives in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao del Norte but is originally from Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat province, had targeted Police Corporal Titing Kauring on the morning of July 12. Kauring was riding his motorcycle along Jose Lim Street when Jamir pulled alongside him and fired three times. The corporal was hit and injured, but he survived. Kauring later denied Jamir's central claim—that the officer had been having an affair with Jamir's wife.
The shooting did not end with Kauring. A tricycle driver named Nasser Gapor was struck by stray bullets and killed. A child who was a passenger in the tricycle was also wounded. In a matter of seconds, a personal grievance had become a public tragedy, turning an ordinary street into a crime scene and leaving a family without its breadwinner.
When Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao spoke with Jamir after his arrest, the suspect admitted what he had done and why. He had tried to kill Kauring because he believed the officer was involved with his wife. Matabalao characterized the shooting as a crime of passion—a killing rooted not in gang violence or organized crime, but in jealousy and rage. The label fit the facts, though it did little to explain away the death of an innocent man or the trauma inflicted on a child.
Police Col. Jibin Bongcayao, the city police director, announced that the case was closed. Jamir now faces three charges: murder for Gapor's death, frustrated murder for the attempt on Kauring's life, and illegal possession of a firearm. The arrest was swift and the charges were clear. What remained was the machinery of the courts and the weight of what had been lost—a tricycle driver who went to work one morning and did not come home.
Notable Quotes
It is considered a crime of passion— Mayor Bruce Matabalao
Case closed— Police Col. Jibin Bongcayao, city police director
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a checkpoint stop matter in a case like this? Couldn't he have been caught anywhere?
The checkpoint was luck, really. He wasn't flagged because anyone suspected him of shooting a cop. They stopped him for a missing license plate. The gun came after—a routine search that turned into an arrest.
So the crime of passion angle—does that change how people in Cotabato see what happened?
It reframes it. This wasn't a gang hit or a vendetta between criminal organizations. It was a man who believed his wife was unfaithful, and that belief cost a tricycle driver his life. The motive is almost mundane, which makes the collateral damage harder to accept.
The child passenger—do we know anything about that injury?
The source doesn't say how badly the child was hurt, only that a passenger-child was injured by stray bullets. That's the gap in the story. We know Gapor died. We know Kauring survived. But the child's condition remains unclear.
Does Kauring's denial matter legally, or is it just his word against Jamir's?
It matters as a fact, but Jamir's motive doesn't have to be true to be his motive. He believed it. That's what drove him to pull the trigger three times. Whether Kauring was actually involved with his wife is almost beside the point now.
What happens next for Jamir?
The charges are filed. Murder, frustrated murder, illegal firearm possession. He'll move through the courts. The case is closed from the police perspective, but for Gapor's family and that child, it's far from over.