A TRAFFIC enforcer shot dead a motorcycle-for-hire driver outside a bank in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City past 10 a.m. Friday, May 24, 2019.

The incident happened near the spot where Police Corporal Jacinto Sagarino of Marigondon Police Station was conducting his foot patrol.

Sagarino said he heard gunshots.

He later rushed to the area after a man informed him about the incident.

Sagarino saw the gunman identified as Rolando Castillas, a 36-year-old employee of the City Traffic Management System (CTMS).

He shouted at the fleeing Castillas to surrender, but the latter refused and continued to brandish his gun. Sagarino then shot Castillas, who got hit in the chest.

Before Castillas’s death, the traffic enforcer shot dead Junny Sollano, the president of Tamiya Riders Association.

Sollano, 38, succumbed to gunshot wounds in the head.

Investigation showed that Sollano and Castillas were not on good terms, after the former scolded the latter for picking up passengers from an area not designated for motorcycle-for-hire drivers.

Transporting passengers was Castillas’s side job when he was not on duty at CTMS.

Sagarino said Sollano had sought his help three weeks ago.

Sollano reported that a man often followed him and threatened him by pretending he had a gun.

Sagarino said he acted on the complaint by apprehending the man. When he failed to recover the gun, he referred the problem to the barangay.

The police officer said he could not remember if it was Castillas who had threatened Sollano.

Lapu-Lapu City Police Office Director Limuel Obon praised Sagarino for responding to the incident. Police recovered a .45 pistol from Castillas. (from GCM of SuperBalita Cebu/KAL)