MANILA, Philippines–A police officer was shot dead by a masked man in full view of his two children in Marikina City on Sunday afternoon.
SPO3 Rocco Matic, 42, assigned at the Quezon City Police District’s station 9, was shot eight times while he was inside his white Mitsubishi Adventure at around 4 p.m. He died on the spot.
His two children aged 10 and 11 and a relative were seated at the back of the vehicle but were not hurt, SPO1 Charles Pacquing, investigator on case, said.
Their vehicle was parked at the corner of B.G. Molina and E. del Pilar Streets in front of a public market in Barangay Parang, Marikina City, while they waited for the policeman’s wife who alighted to buy something for dinner.
Matic and his family were all headed home after picking up a relative at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Pacquing said.
Suddenly, a man of small build masking his face with a handkerchief and wearing a bullcap suddenly opened the door at the right side of the vehicle and shot the policeman.
“Most of the gunshots were fatal. He was shot in the head and in the chest,” Pacquing said.
The gunman then ran towards another man aboard a motorcycle who seemingly had waited for him.
The gunman and his cohort fled towards an unknown direction.
The police are still investigating the possible motives behind the killing.
“It (motive) could be related to his work. His colleagues at the QCPD said he had taken over big and sensitive cases,” Pacquing said.
Probers said the assailants could have monitored the victim’s movements, followed him from the airport up to Marikina City and waited for the right moment to attack.