A CIVILIAN was killed in an ambush Thursday dawn along the national highway in Barangay Samburon in Linamon town, Lanao del Norte.
Based on police blotter report disclosed by Police Officer 2 Felipe Valenzuela, the lone fatality was identified as Eleazar Palmares, 45, a resident of Libertad in Kauswagan town.
Police investigation showed that the victim was on his way to Iligan City at around 3 a.m. when a gunman armed with M16 rifle shot him several times while riding on his motorcylcle Honda XRM with plate number KJ 2862.
A lone witness, a 10-year-old child said the gunman was wearing a black jacket and shoot the victim. At the time of the incident, the child was picking up ripe mango fruit on the ground near the highway.
The child ran to Sitio Laray for safety and told his neighbors that a man was shot at the national highway.
The residents, who also heard the gunfire, rushed to the site while heavy traffic congested the national highway.
The team of Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) based in Iligan City arrived at the scene and did some initial investigation.
Several empty shells were recovered from the crime scene while the victim’s body was brought to a nearby funeral home in Iligan City for autopsy.
Police authorities are looking into extortion and love triangle as possible angles and motives of the crime.
Valenzuela said this is the first killing incident in the area since the Commission on Elections (Comelec) imposed a gun ban nationwide.