A 42-year-old policeman was shot dead by a man with a handkerchief tied around his face in front of the victim’s children in Marikina City at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
SPO3 Rocco Matic, a member of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 9, died on the spot after he was shot eight times behind the wheel of his van.
His two children aged 10 and 11 and a relative who were seated in the back seat were unhurt, case investigator SPO1 Charles Pacquing said.
“It could be related to his work. His colleagues at the QCPD said he had taken over big and sensitive cases,” Pacquing added.
Matic and his family were headed home after picking up a relative from the airport when they stopped in front of a public market at the corner of BG Molina and E. del Pilar Streets in Barangay Parang.
When his wife alighted from the van to buy some food, the victim and his companions waited for her inside the vehicle. At this point, a man wearing a cap and a handkerchief tied around his face opened one of the van’s doors, shot the policeman and escaped on a motorcycle being driven by a cohort.
“Most of the gunshots were fatal. He was shot in the head and in the chest,” Pacquing said.
Police recovered six spent shells from a .45-caliber pistol from the crime scene.