LEGAZPI CITY—A 32-year-old male gold panner was killed on the spot, while another was wounded when armed men opened fire Monday in Aroroy town in Masbate province, a police report said Tuesday.
Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Bicol police spokesperson, identified the slain victim as Jerson Cinco, while the wounded was Osias Laos, 26, also a gold panner, both from Barangay Concepcion.
The report said Cinco was standing in front of a small store at 6:50 p.m. when three suspects, one of them with a handgun, approached him. The armed suspect shot Cinco several times, killing him on the spot.
Laos, who was sitting in a nearby waiting shed, was wounded when a stray bullet hit him.
The suspects immediately fled after the incident.
The police are looking into the identities of the suspects and their motive for the killing.