Chief tanod shot dead at Escalante City barangay hall

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — A 61-year-old chief village peacekeeper was shot dead at the barangay hall of Pinapugasan Proper in Escalante City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday night.

Police identified the victim as Eduardo.

Police Capt. Lindsey Caraballe, deputy chief of the Escalante City Police Station, said unidentified armed men stormed the barangay hall and targeted the victim, who was on duty at the time along with other peacekeepers.

The suspects fled the scene, reportedly taking the victim’s handheld radio.

Caraballe said the victim sustained three gunshot wounds to the body and neck and was declared dead at a hospital.

Caraballe said they are probing the motive of the gun attack, adding that the victim had no records with the police.

He said they do not discount the possibility that the shooting might be linked to another killing that claimed the life of a farmer in Barangay Dian-ay a few days earlier.

The 42-year-old farmer was found dead on Feb. 26 by his sister at their house with a gunshot wound to the head.

Fired cartridges of a .45-caliber firearm were recovered from the scene.

The victim had just arrived home from sending his children to school when unidentified armed men confronted him.

The New People’s Army (NPA) claimed responsibility for the farmer’s killing in a statement, tagging the victim as an alleged military asset.

Despite the NPA claiming the earlier incident, Caraballe said they are exploring other possible angles in both cases.