Cops kill soldier heading home from Marawi battleground

Zamboanga del Sur cops shot to death a vacationing soldier from the ongoing war in Marawi City, mistaking the victim for a "gun for hire."

"Balitanghali" idenfied the slain soldier as Corporal Rodilo Torres Bartolome, who was on his way home to Aurora town.

An initial police investigation showed that Aurora cops received a call alerting them of the presence of an armed man in the area, hinting that the stranger might be a hitman.

Responding cops said that they saw Bartolome from a distance. But even before they could get near him, he supposedly drew his gun, prompting them to open fire.

Bartolome, who was waiting for a ride home for a much-deserved reprieve from the Marawi conflict, was killed on the spot.

A police investigation is being conducted into the incident. —LBG/KVD, GMA News