By GLAZYL MASCULINO
BACOLOD CITY – A policeman who had gone absent without official leave (Awol) was gunned down Saturday by four unidentified armed men along Circumferential Road in Barangay Villamonte here.
Slain was Pat. Eric Alcosaba of Barangay Mansilingan here, according to police report.
Maj. Reynante Jomocan, head of Police Station 4, said Alcosaba parked his pick-up truck in front of a fastfood chain around 3:50 p.m. when the gunmen approached and shot him.
Jomocan said Alcosaba managed to run a few meters away from his car, but he fell on the ground.
One of the gunmen came near him and shot him again in the head at close range, and fled on board a sports utility vehicle.
Jomocan said the victim succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.
Police recovered more than 10 spent shells of unknown firearms.
He said the victim was tailed by the perpetrators.
He said Alcosaba was previously detailed at Police Station 7 and City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) here before he was moved to Mindanao in 2017.
Alcosaba, based on earlier reports, was one of the five police officers who were named in the supplemental affidavit of top drug suspect Ricky Serenio in 2017, as allegedly receiving weekly protection money from the “Berya” drug group.
However, Jomocan said he cannot comment about it yet while investigation is ongoing.
He said they will explore all possible angles behind the killing. “We will check if he had businesses or had enemies which could trigger the murder,” he added.
A video footage showing one of the gunmen shooting the victim is circulating on social media.
He said they will use it as evidence in their investigation to identify the perpetrators. They will also get copies of the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage from nearby establishments.
