• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Two gunmen riding tandem on a motorcycle were arrested by the police during a pursuit operation that was mounted after the shooting of an Army soldier on Monday at Sitio Takas in Barangay Palampas, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
The victim, a member of the 79th Infantry Battalion, suffered three gunshot injuries after being shot at by the two suspects. He is currently in stable condition, according to 1Lt. Dan Carlo Somoza, 79IB Civil Military Operations chief.
Recovered from the crime scene were three empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol and a fired bullet.
Immediate pursuit operations of the San Carlos City Police Station led to the arrest of the two gunmen, identified as Joebert Gimarangan, alias Jojo, and Alfie Raganas, alias Dondon, almost 20 minutes after the crime was committed.
Recovered from the possession of Gimarangan were a Remington caliber .45 pistol with four magazines containing 24 ammunition, a holster, P402 in cash, a sling bag, and a motorcycle helmet, according to the police.
Seized from the possession of Raganas were a fragmentation grenade, a KG 9 automatic pistol with a magazine, a motorcycle helmet, about 162.67 grams of suspected shabu valued at P1,106,156, and 2.47 grams of dried marijuana leaves.
The San Carlos City police are looking into personal grudges as the motive in the shooting of the victim who they identified as Alfort Tito, a member of the Philippine Army and a resident of Brgy. Bato, Sagay City.
However, based on their initial information, Somoza, said it was a case of mistaken identity, stressing that the victim was riding a motorcycle, wearing a helmet and in civilian clothes when he was shot
The victim was on his way to San Carlos City to buy medicine when the incident took place.
Somoza added that the shooting was neither job-related, nor initiated by the New People’s Army.*
