24-year-old woman fatally shot outside home

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD CITY — Police are investigating whether a drug dispute or a crime of passion was the motive behind the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old woman in Barangay 14 on Monday night.

The victim, identified as Babes Gonzales, was outside her house when an unidentified assailant, whose face was obscured by a bonnet, approached and shot her three times, according to Police Major Elmer Bonilla, head of Police Station 1.

Gonzales suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and one in the left arm and died from her injuries. At the scene, investigators recovered three spent .45 caliber cartridges.

“Her engagement in the illegal drug trade was being monitored by local authorities,” Bonilla said, pointing to a potential drug-related motive. He also mentioned the possibility of a crime of passion, noting that the husband of the victim’s live-in partner, currently jailed on a drug charge, might have had a motive related to their relationship.

The investigation is ongoing as police work to determine the full circumstances surrounding the killing.