Rookie QC cop shot dead in Taguig City

Who would have an ax to grind against a 25-year-old rookie policeman who had been in the service for almost three years?

PO1 Aldrin Laguerta Castro, a member of the Quezon City Police’s District Public Safety Battalion, was shot dead in Central Signal Village in Taguig City while on his way to work at 5:30 a.m.

Castro was in a police uniform and driving his motorcycle at the corner of MRT Avenue and Castanas Street when two men on another motorcycle drew up alongside him and tried to run him off the road.

The victim accelerated but the two men kept pace with him until one of them shot him. The bullet went through Castro’s neck and grazed his shoulder, according to Taguig police chief Senior Supt. Arthur Felix Asis.

When the victim fell to the ground, the perpetrators took his motorcycle and service firearm but left his wallet, Asis said.

The gun used to shoot the victim was believed to be a .45-cal. pistol although investigators said they were still trying to determine if the perpetrators used Castro’s own gun against him.

The Taguig police have also yet to release the plate number of Castro’s motorcycle, although Asis said they were in the process of tracking it down.

Castro’s records showed that he graduated in 2011, was single and hailed from San Andres Bukid in Manila.