By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – A man was shot dead by two unidentified men on a motorcycle at Purok Fatima 2, Barangay Sum-ag here on Wednesday night.
Killed was Gaudioso Empase, 53, of SP village, Barangay Pahanocoy.
Lieutenant Gilbert Batiles, head of Police Station 9, said the victim was sitting on his driven tricycle when the assailants reportedly tailed and shot him. The perpetrators then fled.
Empase succumbed to gunshot wounds in the head and left elbow.
Police recovered from the scene a fired cartridge of .45 caliber ammunition and four empty shells of .9mm caliber ammunition.
Batiles said Empase was a Small Town Lottery (STL) bet collector.
He was with a relative when the shooting happened, but the latter was unharmed, the station commander said.
Batiles said the victim’s relative was considered by the family as a person of interest.
The victim’s family believed that their relative might be the target of the attack, but Empase was mistakenly killed, he added.
Batiles said the family is linking illegal drugs to the killing since their relative was allegedly involved in the narcotics trade.
“Basi daw may nakaaway ang distant relative nila tapos napagkamalan lang ang biktima kay wala man daw na siya kontra, amo lang na nga gapataya siya sa STL,” he said.
Batiles said the victim’s relative was subjected to a paraffin test.
