A CONSTRUCTION worker and a suspected drug user died while two other construction workers were injured in separate shooting incidents in Bacolod City on Tuesday.
The first incident happened at C.C. Aquino Drive in Barangay Taculing around 1 a.m.
Chief Inspector Jovil Sedel, head of Police Station 6, identified the fatality as Jovel Batusbatusan, 24, of Purok Masinulundon, Barangay 23.
He was reportedly involved in illegal drug use and theft incidents, Sedel said, quoting the victim's sister.
Batusbatusan was driving a motorcycle with a friend when an unidentified assailant on board a green passenger jeepney blocked their way and fired at them.
They were followed by the assailant until they reached the area, where the victim was shot twice.
The gunman fled and probably followed the victim's friend.
Sedel said they recovered from the victim's possession four lighters, a bamboo clip, a wallet, cellphone SIM cards, and keys.
He added that they will ask the nearby gasoline station for a copy of the closed circuit television (CCTV) footages to aid their investigation.
The second incident happened in a construction site at Purok Paho, Barangay Estefania around 7:45 a.m.
Senior Inspector Elmer Bonilla, head of Police Station 4, said two unidentified men on a motorcycle arrived at the site and fired at the two construction workers and fled.
Bonilla identified the victims as Ricky Villones of Binalbagan town and Roy del Rosario of Bacolod City. They sustained minor injuries and were brought to a hospital.
After 15 minutes, another shooting incident that led to the death of Harold Mira, 24, of Barangay 27 was reported. He was a co-worker of Villones and Del Rosario.
Bonilla said Mira was riding a passenger jeepney on his way to the construction site when two unidentified men on a motorcycle fired at him along Burgos Extension, Helvetia Heights Subdivision in Barangay Villamonte around 8 a.m.
Police recovered from the scene four fired cartridges and a bullet of .45 caliber pistol.
Bonilla said the assailants first went to the construction site to check if Mira has already arrived. When they failed to see him, they shot his two co-workers instead.
Mira was shot five times, but the seven other passengers and the driver were unharmed.
Police have yet to establish the motives of the three shooting incidents.
In another development, a newly-identified drug personality in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, was killed in a drug bust on Quezon Street, Barangay Mabigo on Monday.
Police identified the fatality as carpenter Alex Lopez, 55, of Cagayan de Oro City, temporarily residing in Barangay Lumapao.
Police recovered from Lopez's possession eight sachets of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), the P300 marked money, a .45 caliber pistol, an empty magazine, and three live ammunition of the same firearm.
The suspect, during the transaction around 4:50 p.m., noticed the presence of police operatives. He pulled out his firearm, but the police shot him first, records showed.
He sustained a lone gunshot wound on his left shoulder and was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead.