THE Bacolod City Police Station 1 is still conducting a thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators in the killing of Staff Sergeant Joseph Nepomuceno Jr. in the city on August 29, 2021.
Police Major Ramel Sarona, chief of Police Station 1, on Thursday, September 2, 2021, said they are still gathering evidence and witnesses to determine the identity of the suspects in the killing of Nepomuceno.
He said they already checked the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in the area, but the footages are not clear to determine the identity of the suspects. They are also coordinating with the other business establishments near the area to check their CCTV footage.
On Sunday, Nepomuceno, 37, a member of City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU), and resident of Barangay 14, Bacolod City, was shot to death by two unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants on Rosario Street in Barangay 38.
Nepomuceno was driving his motorcycle when two unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants fired at him several times.
Sarona said Nepomuceno was conducting an intelligence monitoring of the drug personalities in the area of Police Station 1 when two unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants tailed him and fired at him.
"His activities were probably monitored by the suspects, it's a well-planned to kill him in the area," he said.
The police are eyeing work-related as a possible motive in the killing of the victim.
On Tuesday evening, two sports utility vehicles (SUVs) boarded with about eight unidentified armed men were seen along Rosario Street, an area where Nepomuceno was killed on Sunday, dumping the headless body of Gleen Paul Castillo, 42, of Barangay Cabug, where the severed head was found in Barangay 2.
On August, 21, Castillo along with his live-in partner, was arrested in a drug bust conducted by CDEU in Barangay Cabug where Nepomuceno was one of the operatives.
Sarona said they could not yet confirm if the incident has something to do with the killing of Nepomuceno.
However, he said there is a possibility that the suspects, who might be involved in illegal drugs, are using divisionary tactics to distract the investigation of the police.
“There’s a possibility that they dumped the body of the Castillo in the area where Nepomuceno was killed in order to distract our investigation to identify and arrest the perpetrators,” he added.
Sarona said they are also investigating if there was someone behind the killing Nepomuceno.
Colonel Manuel Placido, director of BCPO, earlier said their police office is saddened by the loss of one of its dedicated and hard-working personnel, who has been instrumental in the arrest of several high-value drug peddlers and prohibited drug users in Bacolod City.