Man, woman killed in Kidapawan City gun attack —police official

KIDAPAWAN CITY – A man and a woman riding tandem on a motorbike were shot dead on a highway in Kidapawan City on Thursday morning, a police official said.

City police director Superintendent Leo Ajero identified the victims as Danilo Solis, 46, of Barangay Del Carmen, President Roxas, North Cotabato; and Jennylyn Bascon, 42, of the city's Barangay Mua-an.

Ajero said the victim's bodies were found in separate places along the highway at about 6 a.m. and both sustained gunshot wounds in the head and back.

Citing initial information reaching his office, Ajero said that the victims on a motorbike were heading toward Poblacion at around 3 a.m. when unidentified gunmen, also on a motorcycle, began shooting their target in the vicinity of Barangay Birada.   

Ajero said the suspects first shot Bascon, who was thrown off the vehicle after being hit in the head.

Solis, who was driving the motorcycle during the attack, sped off toward Barangay Birada proper but the attackers caught up with him and shot him in the head and back.

Both victims died on the spot, police said quoting bystanders.

Police are digging deeper into the case. “We’re looking at love triangle as the closest motive for the crime because both were married [to different partners].  However, we won't stop there.  We need to push our investigation further,” Ajero said.

The attack on Solis and Bascon is the fourth shooting incident in the city since last month.

Earlier, a van dispatcher and two handlers of bomb-sniffing dogs were killed in separate shooting incidents perpetrated by still unidentified attackers. —LBG, GMA News