A MAN was injured after he was shot by a policeman following a traffic altercation between them along the Circumferential Road at Akishola Village in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City Thursday night.
Police identified the victim as Edgar Marinog.
Chief Inspector Ritchie Gohee, head of Police Station 4, said Police Officer 1 (PO1) Ely Agonace, 26, of Barangay Vista Alegre engaged in a heated argument with truck driver Mario Lazaga after the latter almost hit the police officer while riding his motorcycle.
Gohee said Lazaga and his companion Marinog chased Agonace which caused the latter to be irritated.
Agonace confronted them again and introduced himself as a policeman. He fired at them but the victims fled.
The police officer continued to chase them until they reached a compound, where the two victims hid.
When the police officer left the area, Lazaga saw Marinog having a lone gunshot wound on his shoulder. He was brought to Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City.
Gohee said Agonace, who is assigned to the Regional Mobile Force Company in Iloilo, was arrested and confiscated from him his government-issue Glock 17 .9mm caliber.
Also recovered from the scene were four bullets and an unfired cartridge of the same firearm.
He said the police officer alleged that the two victims threatened him at gunpoint first and he only defended himself. However, police were not able to recover a 12 gauge shotgun from the latter.
Gohee said they are already preparing charges for violation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gun ban against Agonace, who was on vacation in Bacolod City. He was supposed to return to Iloilo on Monday.
The police chief also said that additional charges for frustrated homicide will be filed against Agonace, who is detained at the police station, depending on the decision of Marinog.
Gohee said the RMFC is also conducting a separate investigation on the incident.
Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, officer-in-charge of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), assured the victims that there will be no cover-up in the investigation being conducted.
The BCPO is deeply saddened by the incident, he added.
Ebreo said the police especially BCPO will not condone any irresponsible act.