THREE persons died on the spot in a shooting incident yesterday at 4:30 am along the national highway in Purok Malimas, Barangay Anakan in Gingoog City.
Police Lt. Col. Cecelio Q. Orcullo, Gingoog City chief of police, identified the fatalities as Amil Mama Paglas, 45, resident of Datu Piang; Muhamidin Abdulrazak, 35, also of Datu Piang, and Omar Adzid, 48, a resident of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
Based on an initial investigation conducted by Police Chief Master Sergent Arvie Cainoy, the victims were all riding in the front seat of a six-wheel Isuzu truck loaded with second-hand motorcycles going to Gingoog City proper when they were shot by overtaking suspects riding a white sedan.
The truck driven by one of the victims (Paglas) eventually flipped left-side down after the shooting incident, said Cainoy.
Cainoy said it is possible that before the shooting incident, the victims and the suspects were already arguing on the road or having road rage while they were heading in the same direction.
The suspects’ vehicle rushed and overtook and then shot the victims who were in the front set of the truck, Cainoy theorized.
For his part, Orcullo said a witness heard a series of gun bursts coming from the suspects’ vehicle.
The witness also disclosed that the two male suspects got down immediately and continued to shoot the victims who were in the front seat of the truck, added Orcullo.
As a result, the victims’ vehicle descended into an inclined road then hit the root of a tree and flipped, he said.
“The witness said he heard the suspects shout ‘Yawa ka ganina ka ra ba. Hapit gyud ‘mi ninyo naligsan,’” said Orcullo.
After killing the victims, the suspects fled away toward Cagayan de Oro City, added Orcullo.
The Provincial Forensic Unit-10 found from the crime scene 22 pieces of empty caliber .45 shells, five pieces of fired caliber .45 bullets, and one cartridge of a caliber .45 pistol.
While the City’s Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office used their hydraulic cutters to remove the victims from the truck.
The victims succumbed to multiple wounds to the different parts of their bodies, said Cainoy.
An investigation is still going on as the operatives tried to check all private and public establishments having CCTVs installed fronting the national highway in the city, said Col. Orcullo.
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