Tattoo artist shot dead in Isabela

Cauayan City, Isabela (Google maps)

CAUAYAN CITY — A 38-year-old tattoo artist has been shot dead by a lone gunman in front of a store in District 2 here, police said.

Rafael Tuppal, 38, was shot in the head and body by a man who drove away in a black sports utility vehicle at 7:30 p.m., May 24, said Supt. Narciso Paragas, Cauayan police director.

Tuppal was one of the people who surrendered during the police’s Oplan Tokhang in 2016, a campaign by the Philippine National Police to persuade known drug users and pushers in communities to surrender and undergo rehabilitation.

But police are looking into leads, besides Tuppal’s illegal drug-related past, to establish why he was attacked.  SFM