THE wife of a Lanao del Sur town mayor was killed after unidentified gunmen ambushed them in Barangay Iponan, this city, this morning.
Maj. Ivan Vinas, spokesperson of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office, said the suspects ambushed the black Toyota pickup truck of Lumbaca Unayan Mayor Somerado Guro at around 9:40 am in Barangay Iponan.
Bulua police chief Maj. Aldren Baculio said Guro, 60; his wife Rohaifa, 26; their driver, Ibrahim Gani, 58; and their staff identified as Abdul Rafi Guro, 19, had just left the mayor’s house in Block 4, Lot 4, Phase 4 of Bloomingdale subdivision in Barangay Iponan.
Police said the gunmen, riding on a Honda motorcycle, ambushed Guro and his companions as soon as they reached Zone 2, Barangay Iponan.
Viñas said the driver, Abdul Rafi Guro, rushed the wounded to the Polymedic Plaza in Barangay Kauswagan.
Lanao del Sur provincial prosecutor Aisa Alonto said Rohaifa, the wife of Mayor Guro, died more than an hour later at the hospital.
Alonto said the wife succumbed to seven gunshot wounds.
Mayor Guro, who was hit by a bullet in the neck, is in stable condition, she said.
Bangsamoro parliament member Zia Alonto Adiong, a distant relative of the victim, said “rido” or clan war could have been the motive for the ambush.
“Who would have thought of staging an ambush at this time of pandemic?” Adiong asked rhetorically
Col. Henry Dampal, city police director, asked witnesses to come forward and help to identify the suspects.
Maj. Baculio said nine empty shells from a caliber .45 pistol were found at the crime scene, and investigators are now working to check CCTV recordings in the hope of identifying the assailants. (Froilan Gallardo with Ben Balce)
