Gunmen attack Samar vice mayor’s vehicle

A group of gunmen attacked the car of San Jorge, Samar Vice Mayor Nancy Grey on Monday morning, wounding the driver, the regional police office reported.

Grey and two of her bodyguards had just got into the car when gunmen hiding in bushes nearby opened fire at them.

The shooting incident took place in front of the official’s house in Mancol village, San Jorge town at around 10 a.m. Monday, about a week after three grenade blasts hit two houses and a warehouse owned by the Grey family in the area. A police officer and a security aide were hurt in the incident last January 31.

In Monday’s shooting incident, a bullet hit Catalino Ubaob’s left foot. The vice mayor and her bodyguards were not hurt in the incident, according to the police report.

The vice mayor was headed to the town hall to preside a town council session.

The local police in San Jorge and Gandara towns have been conducting follow-up investigation relative to the incident. They earlier recovered empty shells of M-14 and M-16 armalite rifles from the crime scene.

Grey served as mayor of San Jorge town for nine years. When her three terms expired last year, her husband, Joseph, took over the town’s leadership.

Three days prior to the grenade attack, Lester Bisnar, the mayor’s opponent in the 2016 elections, and his aide were wounded in an ambuscade in Lapaz village. The victim tagged the mayor’s three sons as suspects.

Grey’s family has been ruling San Jorge town for more than a decade. The town is about 140 kilometers from Tacloban City, Eastern Visayas’ capital.