By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – Police Regional Office (PRO) 4A (Calabarzon) Director Brig. Gen Paul Kenneth Lucas has immediately ordered the Dasmariñas police to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting that left four people, including a barangay chairman, dead on Monday.
“We strongly condemn the heinous shooting incident. We immediately instructed our investigators to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the real motive behind this crime, and to provide justice to the deceased and injured victims,” Lucas said in a statement released on Tuesday.
According to reports at Camp Crame, the incident happened around 8 a.m. in front of Barangay Salitran III hall in Dasmariñas City, Cavite during a flag-raising ceremony.
The police identified the gunman as Ariel, a 50-year-old former barangay tanod (village police), who approached barangay chairman Raul Atarde Ballos, 56, from behind and shot him point-blank.
The gunman then turned to the two barangay councilors beside him and shot them too. They were identified as Jose Lagones, 65, and Marvin Cañete, 54.
The victims were rushed to nearby hospitals but did not survive.
Christine Joseph Bonus, an official of the village’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), was also shot and remains in critical condition, police said.
Ariel later shot himself and was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. (PNA)
