Policeman’s killer identified

CEBU, Philippines — Investigators say they have positively identified the man who shot and killed a policeman assigned to the Minglanilla Police Station early morning last Saturday.

This after the description of a witness matched what was seen on video footage from a camera that recorded what happened during the shooting that took the life of Police Senior Sergeant Alfredo Pagaling.

As earlier reported, Pagaling was in the driver’s seat of a patrol car waiting for his colleagues to set up a checkpoint when two men on a motorcycle shot him as they passed by.

The bullet hit Pagaling in the left temple and exited from his right temple. He was brought to a hospital where he died a few hours later.

Police Master Sergeant Gilmer Noval, an investigator of the Minglanilla Police Station, said prior to the shooting of Pagaling, a shooting incident was also reported in Barangay Linao, Talisay City.

The perpetrator in the Linao shooting, allegedly a member of a fraternity, reportedly shot a man who belonged to a rival fraternity.

The perpetrators and his companion then fled south. Upon reaching Minglanilla they saw a patrol car and thought that policemen had been dispatched to go after them, that was when they opened fire.

Noval refused to name the perpetrator yet as further investigation is still ongoing.

Pagaling, who was 52 when he died, had planned to avail of early retirement from the police service next year. (FREEMAN)