Cotabato City. Map courtesy of Google
4 killed, one wounded in Cotabato City shooting incidents
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 22 November) – Four persons, two of them suspects, were killed in four shooting incidents in the city on Monday night, police said.
The first shooting occurred past 6 p.m. along Doroteo Street, Barangay Poblacion 6.
The victim was identified as Norhamin Usman Guiadel alias “Datu Nhot,” 23, of Barangay Bulalo, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte.
Police Station 1 Commander Capt. Kenneth Rosales said Guiadel was shot with a .45 caliber pistol from behind by one of two men on board a motorbike.
Around 7 p.m., another shooting occurred inside a Minute Burger outlet near Fiesta Mall, Barangay Rosary Heights 10. The victim, identified as Rasiden Angas, was killed on the spot, also by two men on board a motorbike.
In another shooting incident, Rahib Payapat, a resident of Bagua 2, Cotabato City who is working at the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, was shot while driving his black Toyota Hi-Lux with license plate BSM 88. He is recuperating in a hospital.
Payapat, a staffer of Member of Parliament Mike Midtimbang, was with his girlfriend, according to Lt. Col. Carmelo Mungkas, chief of Police Precinct 2 in Cotabato City.
Police officers from Police Station 2 chased the suspects who traded shots with the lawmen near the corner of Sinsuat and Gov. Gutierrez Avenues.
The two suspects were killed in the shootout. They were identified as Naif Kasim, 22, a resident of Barangay Rosary Heights 7, Cotabato City who died on the spot, and Lakmudin Mohammad, 26, of Barangay Rosary Heights 11, was declared dead on arrival at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center.
“It appears that the peace and order of the city is being sabotaged by a still unidentified group,” Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao said.
But he added that the cases were not related.
The police are on top of the situation, he said. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)