MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Three people, including a mayor, were killed while four others were injured in a shootout in Pangasinan this morning, police said.
Mayor Ernesto Balolong, 51, of Urbiztondo town, his security escort Police Officer 1 Eliseo Ulanday, and certain Edmund Meneses died after two unidentified armed suspects fired on them while they were in a construction site in Poblacion of the said town at around 9:15 a.m., Pangasinan Provincial Police Office said.
The incumbent mayor was at the back of the construction site and talking to his workers when the suspects arrived and alighted from a gray vehicle and suddenly fired shots towards the mayor and his security escort.
The three victims were rushed to a nearby hospital but they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Four other workers, including a vendor, in the construction site were also hit by stray bullets and were brought to hospital for treatment.
Investigation has been ongoing to determine the motive of the incident and to apprehend the suspects, police said.