ILOILO City – A barangay tanod survived an assassination attempt by riding-in-tandem gunmen in Barangay San Juan, Molo district.
The 46-year-old Limuel Villaruel sustained four gunshot wounds on his shoulder and hands. He was buying fish balls when shot at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The motorcycle back rider who fired at Villaruel was wearing a helmet.
Fish ball vendor Angelita Rubute, 50, was also hit.
A .45 pistol was used on VIllaruel, according to Police Major Engelbert Banquillo, Molo police station chief, citing the 12 empty bullet shells recovered from the crime scene.
“We have yet to identify the gunmen,” Banquillo said yesterday.
Villaruel was taken to the Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital. Rubute, on the other hand, was confined at the Western Visayas Medical Center for a gunshot wound on her left thigh.
Banquillo said the gunmen may have mistaken Villaruel for his elder brother, a drug suspect who was released from the Iloilo District Jail in Barangay Nanga, Pototan, Iloilo only recently.
“The barangay tanod has no derogatory record with us,” said Banquillo./PN
