3 slain, 2 hurt in Quezon province shooting

LUCENA CITY –– Three persons were killed and two others hurt when they were shot while in a drinking spree in Tiaong town in Quezon province on Thursday night.

Lieutenant Colonel Dennis de Leon, Tiaong police chief, identified the fatalities as Richard Nitro, former barangay captain; Jay Ar Javillo; and Selvino Macaraig.

The police said the victims, along with Rico Macaraig and Meliton Hernandez, were having a drinking session in Barangay Del Rosario around 8 p.m. when two gunmen arrived and repeatedly shot the victims using a .45 caliber pistol and an Armalite rifle.

The victims were taken to San Juan Hospital in neighboring San Juan, Batangas but Nitro, Javillo, and Macaraig died along the way.

The report said Rico and Meliton survived the shooting and suffered only bullet wounds.

Citing initial investigation, De Leon said the suspect’s main target was Nitro.

“It was a sort of vengeance,” De Leon said in a phone interview. De Leon connected the killing to the death of a suspected local drug dealer with a murder case, who was killed in a recent police operation. He did not elaborate.

The police did not disclose the identities of the suspects so as not to pre-empt the ongoing investigation.

LZB