DUMAGUETE CITY — A minister of the local Baptist church in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental was gunned down Tuesday evening while his pregnant live-in partner was wounded but successfully delivered a baby boy.
The victims were identified as Pastor Carlito Dalucana, 53, of Sitio Kulasi, Barangay Buenavista in Guihulngan City, and his live-in partner, Grace Saknana, 28.
“The suspect was seen tailing the couple, who were then walking back home around 6:30 p.m., and they were shot upon reaching their house,” said SPO2 Emmanuel Magallones, investigator-on-duty of the Guihulngan police station.
He added witnesses said the suspect fled on foot after shooting the victims but was later picked up by a man driving a motorcycle with no plate number and headed towards the central district.
Suspects remain unidentified, but the police managed to get descriptions of both.
The victims were rushed to the Guihulngan District Hospital but Pastor Dalucana was declared dead on arrival due to multiple gunshot wounds.
“Saknana and her baby boy were transferred to a hospital in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental for further treatment,” said Magallones.
Five empty shells and a deformed slug of caliber .45 were recovered from the crime scene.
Investigators are looking at a land dispute as possible motive for the shooting. (Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA)
