BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III & GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Four persons, one a woman, were killed in shooting incidents in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental Tuesday and yesterday.
Angelica Montalvo, 23, of Brgy. Banago, Bacolod was with her aunt and cousin, whose names were not disclosed, on board a gray Toyota Vios driven by Marc Carlson Espolon and parked in front of the Medical Plaza at B.S. Aquino Drive past 7 a.m. yesterday when an armed man fired a shot and barged into the car, Station 8 chief, P/Major Joerey Puerto, said.
The suspect pointed his gun on those in the car, declared a hold-up, and took the cellular phones of Montalvo and her relatives. The robber also took the cellular phone and wallet of Espolon and ordered him to drive to Brgy. Cabug, Puerto said.
Upon reaching a portion of Circumferential Road in Brgy. Tangub, the suspect fired another shot and ordered that the car be stopped, alighted from it, and escape on foot toward an unknown direction, he said.
Puerto added that when the suspect was already gone, Espolon and Montalvo’s relatives saw her bloodied and immediately brought her to the Bacolod South General Hospital where she succumbed to a gunshot wound in the head.
Montalvo’s companions described the suspect to be between 30 to 35 years old, around 5 feet and 4 inches to 5 feet and 5 inches tall, and of medium build. They, however, failed to see his face as he was wearing a cap and a facemask.
ANOTHER VICTIM
Three hours later, Jerome Cientos, 62, of Brgy. 29, was shot by one of two suspects, who alighted from a red Toyota Innova, while he was talking to a friend at Malalusan Street in Brgy. 32.
Station 1 chief, P/Major Ramil Sarona, said they will review the footage of closed-circuit television cameras near the crime scene for possible leads on the suspects, whom witnesses claimed to be wearing bonnets.
Sarona said they are looking into a report that Cientos was allegedly an asset of the National Bureau of Investigation, although other angles, like personal grudges, will also be looked into to determine the motive for his killing.
He said they were able to recover five empty slugs of a .45 caliber pistol at the crime scene.
ILOG, ESCALANTE
Two more persons died in shooting incidents in Ilog and Escalante City, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday, the police said.
Two suspects on a black Yamaha motorcycle shot and killed Ronilo Ansag along the highway of Brgy. Dancalan in Ilog.
Ansag, a resident of Brgy. Galicia in the town, sustained gunshot wounds in the mouth, head, and back, and was declared dead on arrival at the Lorenzo Zayco Memorial District Hospital in Kabankalan City, the police said.
Antonio Arellano was also shot dead in Purok Buli, Brgy. Malasibog, Escalante City.
Investigations of the Escalante City police showed that the victim was waylaid by four suspects, who were hiding in a sugarcane plantation, and one of the perpetrators, who was armed with a .45 caliber pistol, shot him several times.
Arellano, 54, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, and died on the spot, the police also said.
Policemen recovered 14 fired cartridges and a slug of a .45 caliber pistol at the crime scene, while the suspects fled toward the mountainous area of Brgy. Tamlang in Escalante City.
COP KILLED, TOO
Police probers are also still investigating the motive and identities of the two suspects behind the killing of a 54-year-old policeman in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, on Monday.
Two riding-in-tandem suspects shot and killed P/MSgt. Jeseden Carriaga, in Brgy. Lumbangan, Mabinay, a police report said.
Carriaga sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead on arrival at the Mabinay Community Hospital, the police said.
Initial investigations of the Mabinay police showed that the two suspects, who were riding a black Suzuki motorcycle, appeared from behind Carriaga, who was to board his motorcycle, and shot him several times.
Recovered at the crime scene were five empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol. Police investigations further showed that the victim had just come from the house of Lumbangan kagawad Tobias Villarejo for an amicable settlement over the debt of Ronnie Cabaron to him, when the shooting incident took place.*
