Police chief killed, 2 hurt in Camotes ambush

Two armed men shot and killed a municipal police chief who was heading home after arriving at the port in San Francisco town, Camotes Group of Islands, east of Cebu on late Monday afternoon.

Two teenagers, who hitched a ride with Senior Insp. Jonas  Tahanlangit in his black Toyota Hilux, were also wounded, the police said.

Tahanlangit, police chief of Poro town in Camotes, died of gunshot wounds in neck and left shoulder, said Senior Supt. Clifford Gairanod, Cebu Provincial Police Office director.

He identified Tahanlangit’s passengers as Rene James Sampan, 16 and son of  Sta. Cruz barangay chair in San Francisco; and Teresa Montalban, 19.

Sampan was hit in the back and Montalban, in the right arm. Both were in stable condition.

Gairanod said Tahanlangit was brought to Ricardo Maningo Memorial Hospital in San Francisco where he was declared dead on arrival.

Based from initial report from San Francisco police station, Gairanod said Tahanlangit came from Cebu where he attended a court hearing.

Tahanlangit, who brought with him his vehicle, drove his pickup to Danao City, Cebu where he took a boat that arrived at the port of Consuelo in San Francisco town about 4:30 p.m.

From there, he drove his black Hilux pick-up and headed home to Poro town with his two teenaged passengers.

About a kilometer away from the port, one of the two men on board a motorcycle fired at his vehicle.

“We believed that the gunmen tailed him all the way from Cebu and even boarded the vessel with him,” said Gairanod.

He said  Tahanlangit was first hit in the left shoulder and was forced to stop the Toyota Hilux. The backrider disembarked from the motorcycle, opened the door of the pickup and shot him the neck.

At least five empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol were recovered from the crime scene.

Witnesses described the perpetrators as “young men” between 17 and 25 years old and were sporting long hair.

But Gairanod said he believed that the gunmen were just wearing wigs.

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