Former police official killed in Sultan Kudarat

COTABATO CITY – An unidentified gunman on a motorcycle shot dead on Saturday a retired police official who had held various positions in Central Mindanao, the authorities said.

Senior Superintendent Rex Dela Rosa, police commander of Sultan Kudarat province, said retired Supt. Teofilo Kinazo was shot dead as he was driving his pickup truck in Barangay (village) Kenram in Isulan around 10:20 a.m.

“He succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds from a caliber-.45 pistol,” Dela Rosa said in a telephone interview.

Dela Rosa said witnesses told investigators Kinazo was traversing the highway linking Isulan and Tacurong City when the motorcycle overtook.

The back-rider opened fire and hit him several times before the two men fled toward Tacurong City, he said.

Witnesses and responding members of the Isulan police and the Task Force Talakudong rushed the wounded Kinazo to a hospital in Isulan but he died before receiving any medication, Dela Rosa added.

“Our investigation is still on going,” he said when asked what the possible motive could be.

Kinazo, who retired from the police service in 2008, received various citations from the Philippine National Police, including one for bravery and heroism.

The 66-year-old former police official had been running a family business since his retirement.