By Shiela G. Gelera

An intelligence officer of the Pontevedra Police Station was shot dead by a lone gunman at the reclamation area of Barangay 1-Poblacion in Negros Occidental’s Pontevedra town around 6:00 a.m. yesterday.

Authorities identified the victim as 37-year-old Police Staff Sgt. Ildefonso Casugod of the town’s Barangay Recreo. He succumbed to a gunshot wound on his head, a police report said.

Casugod was rushed to the Bago District Hospital but he was declared dead-on-arrival by the attending physician.

Police investigation showed that an unidentified gunman, who was wearing a hooded blue jacket, black jogging pants and facemask, suddenly approached Casugod and shot him on the head using a .45 caliber pistol.

The gunman, who was described to be of 5 feet and 5 inches tall, walked towards a scooter driven by another man wearing a bonnet. He boarded the vehicle and escaped.

Police Capt. Hansel Lumandaz, chief of Pontevedra Police Station, said that Casugod was with Mayor Jose Maria Alonso of Pontevedra when the incident happened.

They were exercising at the area.

Alonso, meanwhile, said that there were only a few times that he and Casugod were jogging together. The victim had not shared any problem or concern with him.

The mayor added that Casugod was jogging behind him when he heard a gunshot.

Meanwhile, one of the angles in the death of Casugod that is being looked into by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office is the attack of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, in connection to their founding anniversary on December 26.

While other motives such as work-related issues are also being considered since Casugod had been apprehending drug personalities, wanted persons, gamblers, and other law offenders.

The Police Regional Office 6 has already ordered a thorough investigation of the killing of Casugod./SG, WDJ