Northern Samar engineer shot dead

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—A lone gunman shot and killed an engineer of the Northern Samar District Engineer’s Office while he was shooting hoops with a friend Tuesday morning, police said.

Killed was Virgilio Aleria, 57, who was shot in the head and back by the assailant on the basketball court of the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) in Catarman, the provincial capital of Northern Samar.

The UEP basketball court is within walking distance from the residence of the victim, who played one-on-one basketball with a friend there every day.

The victim’s companion, whose identity the police withheld as a security precaution, fled after the 6:50 a.m. shooting, witnesses said.

According to initial police investigation, the gunman, who wore short pants, approached the victim from behind and shot him in the head and back with a .45-caliber pistol. One of the bullets exited in the chest, police said.

The Catarman police chief, Supt. Jesus Miranda, said that the authorities were looking for the gunman, who fled on a motorcycle.

The motive for the killing had yet to be established, Miranda said.

“Actually, we are focusing on several angles, one of which could be work related,” Miranda said in a telephone interview.

He declined to elaborate.

Aleria was said to be the maintenance chief of Northern Samar District Engineer’s Office and chairman of its bids and awards committee.

District engineer Angie Opina asked the police authorities to speed up their investigation into the killing of Aleria.

“We were shocked by his death. He was a good worker and a professional colleague as far as I know. We call on the police to conduct an in-depth investigation,” Opina said in a telephone interview.