By Teofilo Garcia, Jr. / Philippine News Agency
Police authorities have launched an in-depth probe into a shooting incident that resulted in the death of two persons, including a Basilan town mayor, on Monday in this city.
Another Basilan town mayor was wounded in the same incident that took place around 8:31 a.m. Monday at the seaside in Barangay Baliwasan, this city.
Maj. Chester Natividad, city police Station 11 chief, identified the slain town official as Mayor Darussalam Lajid of Al-Barka municipality and Barad Nuruddin, cousin and driver of Akbar Municipal Mayor Alih Sali, who was wounded in the same incident.
Lajid and Nuruddin were rushed to the hospital but were declared dead on arrival by the attending physician while Sali is now recuperating in the hospital.
Natividad said an initial investigation showed that the victims came from Basilan and had just disembarked from a speed boat that fetched them to this city.
He said the victims were walking towards their waiting vehicles when repeatedly shot with .45 caliber pistols by four gunmen aboard two motorcycles.
The perpetrators, who remain unidentified, sped off after the incident.
Natividad said that all possible motives are being looked into by police investigators to solve the case.
The remains of Lajid and Nuruddin were immediately shipped by their relatives to Basilan province aboard a speedboat for interment in accordance with Islamic burial rites. (with reports from Ely E. Dumaboc/PNA)-rir
