Trader killed in ambush; cop shoots dead gunman

A man, whom police suspected to be a gun-for-hire, shot dead a businessman in Carcar City yesterday.

Insp. William Alicaba, who was near the area when the shooting happened, also shot and killed the shooter when he resisted arrest.

Mario Gilberto Alejado, 50, owner of a lumber store, died after the unidentified gunman shot him in the head near the ear as he was about to ride his Multicab in sitio San Vicente, barangay Poblacion after buying feeds in a poultry feeds store.

Cop nearby

Alejado fell to the ground mortally wounded. Alicaba who happened to be in the area immediately introduced himself as a police officer to the shooter to arrest him. But Alicaba fired first, when he saw the gunman point his gun at him.

The gunman was hit in the armpit. The wounded gunman and Alejado were rushed to the hospital but both were declared dead by doctors when they reached the hospital.

Gun-for-hire

Police said they believed that the gunman was a gun-for-hire after they recovered two firearms; 9mm pistol with seven live ammunition and a .38 revolver with 14 live bullets from him.

Police also found a picture of the victim inside the utility box of the motorcycle that the gunman used.

Police said the victim had been receiving death threats.

They were looking into two angles in the killing personal grudge and his business dealings./Correspondent Gabriel C. Bonjac