The Police Regional Office XI is still trying to determine the motive in the killing of a retired policeman and the wounding of another cop last Feb. 5 in Tagum City.
Meanwhile, the gunman was killed when one of the officers returned fire.
According to the report of PRO XI, around 4:30 p.m., the Tagum City Police Station received information on a shooting incident along Osmeña Street, Barangay Magugpo Poblacion.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, the regional police director, identified the victims as Simplicio Samar Jr., 44, retired PNP member, owner of Eagle’s Pawnshop and a resident of Purok Dela Cruz, Barangay Mankilam, and PO3 Eduardo Badilla Bajalia, 53, a resident of Erlenville, Barangay San Miguel, both in Tagum.
The two were talking when the gunman arrived and shot them. Samar died on the spot on several gunshot wounds, but Bajalia managed to fire back and killed the perpetrator.
The cop was rushed to the Tagum Doctors’ Hospital after also sustaining several gunshot wounds on the different parts of his body.
The responding Scene of the Crime Operative of Davao del Norte Police Provincial Office recovered 20 fired cartridges and six fired bullets in the area.
Meanwhile, the remains of Samar and the gunman were brought to the Rubio Funeral Services, along the national highway in Tagum City.
Morales directed the Davao del Norte provincial police director, Sr. Supt Ferlu M. Silvio, to conduct an in-depth probe into the shooting incident to identify the gunman and establish the motive.
“This office also discourages the public from disseminating irrelevant and unconfirmed information in social media and other platforms. This kind of information may somehow affect the conduct of investigation,” he said.
