Barangay tanod shot dead in Sagay City

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Police are investigating personal grudges as a possible motive in the fatal shooting of a barangay tanod in Purok Dahlia, Barangay Puey, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, on Monday.

The victim, identified only as “Marbelito,” was reportedly on his way home from a fiesta when he was believed to have been followed by suspects riding a motorcycle, according to Police Lt. Col. Alvimar Flores, chief of the Sagay City Police Station.

A witness said he heard three successive gunshots and immediately reported the incident to their village chief.

Upon verification, the responders found the victim lying in a narrow pathway of a sugarcane field, about five meters from the road, with gunshot wounds to the body.

Police recovered one cartridge case of an unidentified firearm from the scene.

Flores said the victim had been arrested last year on the strength of a warrant for acts of lasciviousness.

Police have identified persons of interest, but have yet to disclose further details on the motive behind the killing.