The deputy police chief of San Jose, Negros Oriental was shot dead by unidentified suspects riding-in-tandem on a motorcycle Tuesday night along the national highway in Barangay Tapon Norte of said town.
Executive M/Sgt. Roldan Esmajer, 47, a resident of the said village, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds at the Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC) here.
A report from the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) said Esmajer was on his way to the police station on board his Honda motorcycle at around 7 p.m. when the suspects, wearing black helmets and riding Suzuki Raider motorcycle, drove up to him and the back rider fired at him without provocation, according to witnesses’ accounts.
Esmajer sustained three gunshot wounds on his upper abdomen and right lateral chest area. San Jose police personnel and bystanders rushed him to the SUMC, where Dr. Elie Paglinawan, a resident physician, pronounced him dead at around 7:45 p.m., said NOPPO information officer Police Chief Master Sergeant Edilberto Euraoba.
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Provincial police director Col. Julian Entoma, in an interview Wednesday morning, said investigators are looking at three possible angles in the killing of Esmajer — work-related, personal grudge, and insurgency.
He said that in relation to his work, Esmajer was deeply involved in the government’s anti-illegal drugs operations for 15 years and was one of the operatives who had busted more than one kilo of suspected shabu recently in that town.
As to personal motive, police investigators are also checking on whether he had enemies, and on the possible involvement of the New People’s Army. Entoma said they are considering this based on the evidence gathered, including an M-16 slug recovered from the crime scene.
“Also, a witness said that he heard a loud burst of gunfire, making police investigators believe it was a high-powered firearm that was used in the shooting of Esmajer, although we still do not have conclusive evidence,” he said in the Cebuano dialect.
Entoma said the police are working to obtain a video recording from a closed-circuit television camera from a private residence in the area where the suspects had fled southbound towards Dumaguete.
The remains of the late police officer will be brought to his residence in San Jose today, Wednesday, while arrangements are being made for a wake at the San Jose Police Station as well as at the NOPPO headquarters in Agan-an, Sibulan town, he added. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
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