BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A 37-year-old policeman was shot and killed by still unidentified gunmen Saturday night in Hacienda Caridad, Brgy. Patun-an, Calatrava, Negros Occidental.
The victim was identified by P/Maj. Roberto Indiape, Calatrava police chief, as P/SSgt. John Daniel Gotera, who was assigned as investigator of the Toboso Police Station.
Indiape said Gotera was waylaid by two suspects in a black pickup truck, at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and shot twice, with a .45 caliber pistol.
Police investigation showed that Gotera, who was previously assigned as member of the Calatrava Police Drug Enforcement Unit, from 2016 to 2017, and then to the Moises Padilla PS, before he was transferred to the Toboso PS, sustained a fatal gunshot wound in the head, and was declared dead on arrival at the San Carlos City Hospital.
Recovered at the crime scene was an empty shell of a .45 caliber pistol.
Indiape said he believes that the shooting incident was work-related, and the police are exerting all efforts to identify the killers. There were reports that Gotera had received threats because of his job as a drug enforcement operative.*
