Yt Framework

A local policeman and his 4-year-old stepdaughter were shot and critically wounded yesterday morning after two unidentified motorcycle gunmen riding-in-tandem shot them along Don Toribio Street in Barangay Tetuan, this city.

Superintendent Albert Larubis, chief of the Tetuan Police Station, identified the victims as Police Officer 3 Rommel Cuadra y Esteban and Maria Honey Mae Francisco y Ibuc, a kindergarten pupil of Sunnyvale Learning Center.

SPO4 Cuadra, of legal age, is assigned with the Zamboanga City Public Safety Company (ZCPSC).

According to Larubis, the policeman sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the different parts of his body while the girl suffered gunshot wounds in her head and body.

Police investigators said the two shooting victims were rushed to Western Mindanao Medical Center (WMMC) for the bullet wounds and presently under observation.

Based on investigation conducted by the responding personnel of Tetuan Police Station showed that prior to the incident, policeman on board his motorcycle was driving his stepdaughters to Sunnyvale Learning Center.

It said that one of Cuadra’s stepchildren, Maria Honey Mae, asked him to buy her some toys at the nearby store, leaving the other two children at the center.

Witnesses said while both victims were about to leave the center the unidentified gunmen on board a single motorcycle Honda Wave color red shot the victims successively.

Police investigators and Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) processed the crime area and recovered 3 empty shells of Caliber .45 Pistol and the policeman’s motorcycle.

Probers said that the suspects hurriedly sped off towards unknown direction after the incident.

A follow-up investigation was conducted to establish the identity of the assailants as well as the motive of the incident. (Eugene A. Lasprilla)


Caption: Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) conduct ocular investigation along Don Toribio Street, Tetuan where a local policeman and a 4 year-old girl were shot by unidentified riding-tandem gunmen yesterday.

By Eugene A. Lasprilla