Drug angle eyed in killing of ex-cop

Two of four men on motorcycles gunned down on Saturday night a policeman in Quezon City who had been dismissed from the service.

Merick Dimapilis, 37, of St. Joseph Street in Barangay (village) Holy Spirit, died on the spot due to multiple gunshot wounds in the head and body. He was assigned with the Rodriguez police in Rizal province until his dismissal in 2009 for going AWOL (absent without official leave).

Investigators of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit said that Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered 14 bullet casings from the site of the shooting on San Simon Street in Barangay Holy Spirit.

Case investigator PO2 Alvin Quisumbing said that a small amount of methamphetamine hydrochloride, or “shabu,” wrapped in a strip of aluminum foil was recovered from Dimapilis. Before the incident, which happened around 8 p.m. Saturday, Dimapilis was driving his motorcycle (DL-4316) with a female companion when four men on two motorcycles drew alongside him and opened fire.

While the victim was hit, his companion was unhurt and sought help from barangay officials. According to the case investigator, it was possible that the killing had something to do with the drug trade based on the shabu found in one of the victim’s pockets.—Jeannette I. Andrade