TACLOBAN CITY- The chief of police of Paranas town in Samar was gunned down on Tuesday early morning outside a karaoke bar in this city with police probers have yet to establish the motive of the killing.
Killed was Senior Inspector Lucino Lopido, 49 and a widower, who sustained four gunshot wounds at his chest and at his left arms.
Based on their initial investigation, at around 12:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Lopido approached a man who was standing outside the Dino’s Karaoke Bar located along Gomez Street, this city and after a few minutes, shots were heard with the victim falling down to the pavement.
“Apparently, he was in the area to conduct surveillance and when he saw the suspect, who was wearing a jacket and a bull cap, approached him and introduced himself as a chief of police of Paranas. Then, shots were heard hitting the victim with the suspect running going towards the direction of Santo Nino Street,” Senior Superintendent Domingo Cabillan, city director of the Tacloban police, said.
Lopido, who was not on uniform at that time, was with four companions, all said to be civilians, inside a vehicle park just front of the Dino’s Karaoke Bar.
Recovered from the crime scene were five empty shells of 9 mm and a motorcycle, bearing no plate number, said to be owned by the suspect.
Lopido, who just assumed as police chief of Paranas on June 23 was brought to the Saint Paul’s Hospital where the attending physicians declared him dead on arrival.
He sustained gun shots at his left arm and chest, the fatal shot. His remains were brought to the Rolling Hills funeral homes at Barangay 95, Caibaan District.
Cabillan said that they have yet to establish the motive on the killing of Lopido, who was once a member of the Tacloban Police or what kind of surveillance the group of Lopido was conducting.
He said that they would ensure that the perpetrator would be arrested and charged in court to give justice to the victim and his family.
“We will do everything we can. The victim here is a chief of police and if they can kill a police officer, then, this could send a wrong signal that they just kill anyone,” Cabillan said.
He said that a special task force was created by him, with him as the head, to expedite the solution of the killing with the motorcycle serving as an evidence.
Cabillan said that this killing of a police chief is an “isolated case” as he assured the people of Tacloban that the city’s peace and order remain stable.(JOEY A. GABIETA)
