Senior Police Officer 2 Dennis Rafael, night duty officer, identified the fatality as Senior Police Officer 1 Agripino Gomez Jr., 45, a resident of 76 Gomez street, Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City.
The victim had been assigned at the Camp Crame-based Police Security Personnel Office, a division in charge of providing police security to very important people (VIPs).
Rafael said the incident occurred at around 8:30 p.m.
The victim was driving his white Toyota Corona with plate number CAP-858, when he developed engine trouble. He was forced to stop along Quezon street, Lower Bicutan in Taguig.
Gomez got out of the vehicle, popped open the car’s hood to try to find out what was wrong. As he was checking under the hood, four men approached him. One of the gunmen fired several shots.
The officer died instantly from multiple bullet wounds in the head and body. The body was taken to the crime laboratory in Camp Crame for autopsy.
"The officer was wearing a B-type police uniform, meaning he was wearing the blue slacks and a white T-shirt. He was apparently on his way home when the incident happened," Rafael said.
Taguig police said they have yet to establish the motive for the killing.
Rafael added. "We are looking into all possible motives. It could either be an old grudge or they could have simply been after his gun, or something else."
He pointed out that it was unlikely that it was a planned attack. "They could not have been waiting for him since he only stopped in the area because of car trouble. The suspects might have just chanced upon him. They might have also taken his gun."
The police noticed that Gomez was wearing a holster and he had magazine for a 9 mm pistol. No service firearm was recovered. They also found three shells of a caliber .45 pistol at the crime scene.
"It is often difficult to solve crimes in Taguig because many of the people refuse to testify," he said. No one has come forward to the police station to give an account on the incident.
The investigator added the shooting took place along a dimly lit road, with the light only coming from the billboard of a nearby restaurant along Quezon street.