Pangasinan town police chief, wife shot dead over land dispute

DAGUPAN City, Philippines—The police chief of Bayambang, Pangasinan, and his wife were shot dead by the police official’s brother over a land dispute in Alaminos City on Sunday, police said.

Superintendent Rolie Saltat, Alaminos police chief, said one of the victims, Supt. Lloyd Millan, 39, and his brother Lyndon, 41, were fighting over a parcel of land in Barangay (village) Pandan in Alaminos.

Saltat said Millan and his wife, Cherryl, were talking to Pandan barangay chairman Ricardo Legaspi and two village council members in a hut near a fishpond at 9 a.m. when Lyndon arrived and cursed his brother.

Lyndon, who was carrying an M-16 Armalite rifle and a .45-cal. pistol, fired at his younger brother, shooting the latter in the head and in different parts of his body. Cherryl had tried to rescue her husband and used her body to shield him but she was also shot by Lyndon.

Supt. Geraldo Roxas, Pangasinan police spokesman, said Millan was able to draw his 9mm pistol and fire back at his brother but missed. It was then that Lyndon drew his .45-cal. pistol and finished Millan off.

Millan and his wife died while being taken to the Western Pangasinan District Hospital in Alaminos.

Legaspi and the two village council members were unhurt, reports said.

Saltat said alerts were sent to police stations in nearby towns so they could organize teams to track down Lyndon, an employee of the Alaminos City Hall.

Citing information shared by Legaspi, Saltat said the brothers talked on Saturday at the barangay hall and seemed to have settled their differences.

“[The brothers had talked] that was why [Legaspi] wondered why [Lyndon] still went to the fishpond and shot his brother and his [sister-in-law],” he said.

Originally posted at 11:35 am | Sunday, October 30, 2011