Doctor shot dead in Cagayan de Oro

Scene-of-crime operatives check the vehicle of Dr. Raul Winston Andutan, who was waylaid Dec. 2 by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Barangay Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City. PHOTO BY JIGGER J. JERUSALEM

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A medical doctor was shot dead in broad daylight in this city Thursday morning by motorcycle-riding gunmen.

Police identified the victim as Dr. Raul Winston Andutan, medical director of Maria Reyna Xavier University Hospital (MRXUH), a major medical facility in the city in Barangay Camaman-an.

Andutan, according to the hospital record, specialized in surgery and urology.

Lt. Mirasol Capiña, deputy commander of Nazareth police station, said the doctor succumbed to three gunshot wounds, one of which hit him in the neck.

Of the six gunshots, three broke through and made holes in the car driver’s side window.

Capiña said Andutan was the only passenger of the Toyota Fortuner he was driving.

The victim died at the hospital while being attended to by physicians, she said.

She said the scene-of-crime operatives recovered six empty shells fired from a .45-caliber pistol.

It was likely, Capiña added, that Andutan was on his way to the MRXUH from his residence in Barangay Macasandig when attackers waylaid him at the corner of 12th and 29th Streets in Barangay Nazareth.

“It’s possible that Dr. Andutan was being followed by the gunmen from his home and shot him on the way,” she said.

She said investigators are now trying to establish the motive for the doctor’s killing.

Capiña added that Andutan’s vehicle hit a bystander as it rammed into the frontage of a laundry shop after the victim was shot.

The bystander, she said, broke a few ribs due to the impact of the crash.

A witness, who happened to be on the side of the road at the time of the shooting, said he first heard the first shot but ignored it, thinking it was only a burst tire.

He said he paid no attention as vehicles were coming and going at the time.

“I didn’t mind the first shot, but when three more shots were fired, that’s when I took notice. I ducked and hit the ground,” he said, adding that he also heard two more shots before the victim’s vehicle ground to a halt.

The witness added he only took a look when he heard no more gunshots.

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