Cop killed, boy injured in Batangas shooting

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines – A policeman was killed while an eight-year-old boy was wounded when they were fired upon by unidentified men in the compound of the Padre Garcia Central School in Padre Garcia, Batangas, shortly before 7 a.m. Monday.

Senior Inspector Joel Ilagan, Padre Garcia town police chief, identified the fatality as Police Officer 2 Dominic Bituin, who was assigned at the Batangas Provincial Special Operations Group.  The wounded boy was John Rio Catibog, a grade 2 pupil at the school.

Bituin was declared dead on arrival at the town’s hospital due to a bullet wound on his head, said Ilagan.

The condition of Catibog, who suffered a bullet wound in the chest and was rushed to a hospital in the town, was still not known, added Ilagan.

The police were still determining the motive for the shooting and why the policeman and the boy were together as they appeared not to be related to each other, he said.