LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – A 23-year old gasoline body died after he was reportedly shot by a still unidentified assailant who commandeered a taxi that was used as his getaway vehicle at the Colebeng gas station along the national highway here early Friday morning.
Senior Superintendent Floratne Camuyot, officer-in-charge of the Benguet Provincial Police Office, identified the murder victim as Rodel Francis, 23, single, gasoline body and a resident of Cogcoga, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet and a native of Mankayan, Benguet.
Initial police investigation showed the suspects on board a tax arrived in the gasoline station and when the victim went near the vehicle that was parked near a tanker, one of those on board the vehicle suddenly alighted from the vehicle and dragged the victim inside the same but he refused to do so until the occurrence of a struggle.
At this juncture, the suspect suddenly pulled out a handgun tacked on his waist and suddenly shot him several times on the different parts of his body before boarding the taxi that served as their getaway vehicle.
The victim was immediately rushed to the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) for medical treatment but he later expired while being accorded the necessary medical attention.
Responding police operatives were able to recover from the crime scene several spent shells of a caliber .38 revolver which was used by the suspect in the commission of the crime.
It was learned that the taxi driver voluntarily surrendered to police authorities and denied involvement in the incident as he claimed that he was commandeered by the suspects in the perpetration of the crime. He was flagged down in a still undisclosed place and was hogtied and placed at the back of the vehicle while of the suspects served as the driver in the said incident before he was freed in Baguio city.
The suspects are now the subject of a manhunt operation by the concerned police operatives based on their identities as taken from the closed-circuit television camera of the gasoline station.
By Dexter A. See
