A case of mistaken identity was what Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Feb. 21 of the daylight ambush that killed three men and wounded another in Brgy. Palampas, San Carlos City Feb. 20.
Lacson said this was based on the initial results of the investigation conducted by the police, adding that he received information that the target of the four unidentified suspects was not inside the white Mazda sedan vehicle that the victims had been riding.
Russel Bucao and Andre Fajardo died on the spot while Rudy Dela Fuente was declared dead on arrival at the San Carlos City District Hospital. The fourth passenger, Renante Chiu is now in stable condition, the police said.
Recovered at the scene of incident were 58 fired cartridges of an M16 assault rifle and of a .45 caliber pistol.
P/Lt. Abegael Donasco, deputy spokesperson of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, said the incident was an “isolated case” and tagged it as a “shooting incident” contrary to claims of an ambush.
It does not reflect the whole peace and order situation in the province, Donasco stressed.
Lacson, meanwhile, urged authorities to identify the real target of the ambush, the motive, and the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
He called on P/Col. Leo Pamittan, acting provincial police director of Negros Occidental, to leave no stone unturned in their investigations.
Donasco said that probers are looking into all possible angles as reason for the fatal shooting, including illegal drugs. – GB
