Architect gunned down inside Leyte university; Suspect at large

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — An architect working in one of this city’s universities was shot and killed on campus allegedly by a lawyer on Monday noon, police said.

Archimedes Moscare, 50, was shot in the chest at 12:17 p.m. inside his office on the second floor of the Leyte Normal University (LNU), one of this city’s oldest schools.

The suspect identified as Aquilino Mejica, 42, fled after the shooting and remained at large.

Mejica’s wife, Carol, and the victim were part of  a technical working group for LNU’s various projects.

The body of Moscare was found by  a colleague, Ramberto Cidro, who immediately informed Jerauld Liros, LNU chief security officer.

Footage from the school’s closed circuit television (CCTV) camera showed someone looking like Mejica shooting Moscare, Liros said.

Liros said they did not know any possible motives for the killing.

Senior Supt. Domingo Cabillan, city police chief, cited an array of possible motives that included work, jealousy and money.

“The identity of the suspect has been established from the accounts of witnesses and the CCTV footage. Right now, the suspect is at-large,” Cabillan said.

Clemelle Montallana, LNU vice president for administration, expressed shock over the incident.

“Because of what happened, we will review our security arrangement to avoid a similar incident,” he said.

He said Mejica was not searched by the school guards because they knew him./rga