Police cordon the area along the national highway in Barangay Balisong, Argao Cebu where a retired policeman, Police Senior Master Sergeant Jesus Rudston Villahermosa, 56, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding men at 4:40 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2019. |CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A retired police officer was shot dead by one of two men riding on a motorcycle along the National Highway in Barangay Balisong, Argao town, some 75 kilometers south of Cebu City, at around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, September 19, 2019.
Retired Police Senior Master Sergeant Jesus Rudston Villahermosa, 56, was rushed to the Isidro C. Kintanar Memorial Hospital in Argao but was declared dead on arrival (DOA) by an attending physician.
Villahermosa was assigned at the intelligence division of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) prior to his retirement, according to information gathered by the Argao police.
Police Corporal Anthony Deparine, assistant operation officer of the Argao Police station, told CDN Digital by phone that Villahermosa was on his way to his residence in Barangay Cawayan, Dalaguete town driving a motorcycle with his friend Robert Parane as the back rider, when the incident happened.
The suspects were reportedly tailing Villahermosa and Parane but when they reached the national highway in Barangay Balisong, the suspects suddenly came side by side with the motorcycle of Villahermosa before the back rider pulled out his gun and shot the retired cop.
According to Deparine, Parane told investigators that he only heard the gunshots before he and Villahermosa fell down on the ground.
The shooting happened so fast that Parane did not have time to look at the suspects or the plate number of the motorcycle that the suspects where riding, Deparine said.
Parane was unharmed.
The responding Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) team found two empty shells of .45 caliber gun at the crime scene, Deparine said.
Police investigators were still at the crime scene as of 10:30 p.m. and were yet to determine the motive for the killing, he added.
The police stations in Argao’s neighboring towns were immediately alerted by the Argao police regarding the incident and immediately set up checkpoints in the hope of blocking the exit points of the assailants. /elb