A police officer was shot dead at around 6AM, today, December 22, in Brgy. 1 Reclamation Area, Pontevedra town, leaving his 3 young children 3 days before Christmas.
Pontevedra Chief of Police Captain Hancel Lumandaz identified the victim as Police SSgt Ildefonso Casugod, 37-year-old and is assigned as intel officer of Pontevedra PNP. The suspect was jogging at the open field when the incident took place.
Lumandaz could not provide details of the assailant’s identity, but initial investigation shows that a suspect wearing a hooded blue jacket, black jogging pants and wearing a facemask point a .45 caliber revolver to the victim and fired a shot on his head. The suspect, together with his look out immediately fled from the crime scene onboard a motocycle.
No less town Mayor Jose Maria Alonso of Pontevedra witnessed the shooting incident as he was also at the vicinity, according to Lumandaz. He added that before the incident took place, the victim was even able to meet and speak to the town mayor.
The victim was rushed to Bago City District Hospital, according to Lumandaz, unfortunately, he was pronounced dead on arrival.
As of posting time, police are still conducting a hot pursuit operation and is trying to obtain a copy of the closed circuit television footage from the nearby offices to help them in their investigation and in identifying the suspect.
Police cannot yet determine the motive behind his killing, but Lumandaz said his team initially linked the incident to his job as the police intel of the town.
(Article has been updated to provide additional description about the suspect based on the spot report provided by Pontevedra PNP)
