A FORMER member of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) was killed in an ambush on the national highway in Barangay Dakit in the southern town of Barili Saturday morning, May 29, 2021.

The victim was identified as 40-year-old Master Sgt. Raymund Zozobrado, a resident of Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City. He was assigned in Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental.

Zozobrado was on board his motorcycle with Vanessa Go Tura, a 30-year-old resident of Sitio Upper, Barangay Mohon, Talisay City.

According to Maj. Romeo Caacoy Jr., chief of the Barili Police Station, the two had just crossed the Tañon Strait on board a ferry, which docked in Dumanjug, and were on their way to Carcar City when the incident happened around 9 a.m.

Caacoy said the gunman was on board a blue Toyota Innova that was tailing the victim’s motorcycle.

The gunman fired at Zozobrado several times, causing the latter’s motorcycle to fall to the ground. The vehicle immediately left the scene.

Caacoy said the gunman used a high-powered firearm, based on the shells found at the crime scene.

It was not determined how many times Zozobrado was shot or where in the body since Scene of the Crime Operation 7 had yet to release its report.

“Iyang kauban misulti nga ilang gilabyan ang Innova. Pagsaylo nila, butobuto dayon. Wala na siya makakita sa mga suspetsado kay nahagba naman sila sa motorsiklo. Paspas kaayo ang panghitabo,” Caacoy said.

(His companion said when they passed the Innova, she heard gunshots. She didn’t get the chance to see the gunman since everything happened so fast and they were already on the ground.)

Tura, who was grazed by bullets, was brought to the Barili District Hospital. She is expected to be transferred to a private hospital in Cebu City.

Investigators have yet to determine the motive for the attack. They are already cooperating with police in Guihulngan City.

Caacoy said he called neighboring police stations so they could set up checkpoints on the gunman’s path, but the Toyota Innova was never found.

Zozobrado survived a similar ambush in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City on April 29, 2018. He had just attended a wake of a colleague who was killed in an attack.

Zozobrado was assigned at the City Intelligence Branch of the CCPO before his transfer to Negros Oriental. (GPL / PJB)