Businessman shot dead in North Cotabato

MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato –Two unidentified gunmen shot dead an agricultural products trader here on Thursday, police said Friday.

Supt. Bernard Tayong, the town police chief, said Ricky Ogates, 37, of Barangay (village) Bual Sur, was waiting for his wife in front of his establishment in Barangay Poblacion when two men on a motorbike arrived around 6 p.m.

One of the men drew a cal. 45 pistol and repeatedly shot Ogates, Tayong said.

The suspects immediately fled toward the border of North Cotabato and Maguindanao, he said.

Tayong said responding police officers rushed Ogates to a local medical facility but he died along the way. He had eight wounds, he added.

Crime scene investigators recovered eight empty shells for cal. 45 pistol at the crime scene.

No motive had been established so far, Tayong said./rga