PBA's John Amores, brother charged with attempted homicide

PBA player John Amores and his brother have been charged with attempted homicide after a closed circuit television footage showed the athlete shooting another man after a basketball game in Lumban, Laguna.

The Laguna Police Provincial Office, in a Facebook post on Friday, Sept. 27, said that the two have been taken into custody in connection with attempted homicide.

The cases were filed before the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Lumban with a bail bond of P24,000 for Amores and P10,000 for his brother, John Red.

Amores was playing basketball with the victim identified as Lee Cacalda in Barangay Salac when they had a heated argument over a reported foul call. According to state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA), there was reportedly a P4,000 bet on the line.

Lumban police chief Bob Ordiz said Amores and Cacalda challenged each other to a fistfight before each of them left until they saw each other again in Barangay Maytalang I, where tensions escalated anew.

Amores then brought out his gun and fired at Cacalda before running away. The bullet didn't hit the victim.

Police tried chasing Amores and his brother before the former surrendered at 1:55 a.m. and the latter at 2:35 a.m. on Sept. 26. The PBA player allegedly threw away the gun he had fired.

Amores, who played for Jose Rizal University during his college days, was banned from the National Collegiate Athletics Association in 2022 after punching four players from De La Salle-College of St. Benilde during a game. Two players filed a complaint against Amores before the San Juan City Prosecutor's Office.

Nevertheless, NorthPort picked Amores during the 2023 PBA Rookie Draft.