A VILLAGE councilman was shot dead by six unidentified assailants on Saturday evening, January 11, 2020 at Purok Kasanag 1, Barangay 26, Bacolod City.

The fatality was identified as kagawad Romeo Canlas, 33, of Barangay 2.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, spokesperson of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said on Sunday, January 12, Canlas was having a drinking session along with his friends at about 9:25 p.m. Saturday at the compound of kagawad Rino Dellarna of Barangay 26 when six armed men stormed the area and fired at the victim several times.

“His friends were unharmed. He was the only target of the suspects. The suspects ordered them to drop to the ground and killed the victim,” Pico said.

Investigation showed that Canlas, along with his friends, came from a cockpit in Barangay 2 where they attended a fiesta and then went to the compound of Dellarna.

Police recovered from the scene of the crime several empty shells of .45 caliber and .9mm caliber.

The victim sustained multiple wounds and was brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital where he was declared dead.

Pico said the suspects were wearing jackets and bonnets and fled using a white Montero vehicle.

He said the victim’s activities were probably monitored by the suspects who killed him in the area.

The police are eyeing personal grudge, politics and involvement in illegal drugs as possible motives in the killing of Canlas.

Pico said the victim was included in Police Station 2’s drug watchlist in 2018 and investigators are concentrating on this angle.

He said they are also coordinating with the business establishment in the area to check the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera.

Colonel Henry Binas, BCPO director, also directed the personnel of Police Station 4 to investigate all the possible angles to identify and arrest the suspects.