PAVIA, ILOILO – Hungarian national Daniel Melczer, 37, was shot dead outside their house in a subdivision in Barangay Balabag in Pavia, Iloilo on Sunday, police said.

Initial investigation revealed that around 12:30 a.m.. the victim asked security guards to tell his neighbor, Lucindo Lim, who lives across him, to stop setting off firecrackers because he wanted to sleep already.

The guard went to Lim’s house to accommodate Melczer’s request and Lim agreed.

However, when the security guard left Lim’s house and went back to his roving routine, he suddenly heard a scream and went back again to the area.

He saw Lim holding a .45 caliber pistol, and the responding guards confiscated the gun. However, they did not immediately report the incident.

Around 3 a.m., Melczer’s fiancée, Reka Schule, woke up and was wondering why her fiancé was not in their room. She looked for him and she saw him at the back portion of their house. Upon seeing that her fiancé was shot, she sought help. It was only then that the Pavia police was informed.

Authorities went to the house of Lim after the guards informed them that they confiscated the gun. Lim submitted himself to the authorities and surrendered another gun, a 9mm pistol.

Based on Lim’s statement to the police, Melczer allegedly kicked him and he lost his temper. He then went inside and took his gun.

Aside from investigating the incident itself, the police will check with the Bureau of Immigration regarding the status of the victim’s stay in Iloilo and will also investigate security guards on why they failed to inform them earlier about the confiscated gun.

The Hungarian couple is running a restaurant business in Iloilo City, and the victim had been staying in the city for almost two years.