AN ARMY officer was shot to death on Sunday by armed men in a fiesta celebration in Barangay Napaliran, Balingasag town in Misamis Oriental.
Police identified the victim as S/Sgt. Elmo G. Pinar, 53, a resident of Barangay Poblacion 2 in Balingasag town, who was assigned at the Military Intelligence Battalion (MIB) of the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) based in Camp. Evangelista, Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro City.
Police Inspector Edwin Ipan of the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch (PIDMB) said Pinar succumbed to a gunshot wound in his head from a caliber .45 pistol and died instantly at the crime scene.
A civilian, identified as Alexander Pabualan, a resident of Barangay 1 in Balingasag, was also shot in the head when he attempted to help Pinar.
“Maybe the suspect believed that Pabualan is a friend of Pinar that’s why he was also shot. But we still do not know what happened to the civilian because he was immediately brought to the hospital,” Ipan said.
He added they are still conducting an investigation to determine the identity of the suspects and the motive of the killing.
Ipan said investigators are eyeing personal grudge as possible motive of the killing. (ALR)