Bukidnon town councilor shot to death

A councilor of Talakag, Bukidnon, was killed and two of her relatives were injured after being shot by still unidentified men on Saturday afternoon.

Initial reports from the Bukidnon provincial police identified the victim as Susan Gayonan, who succumbed to bullet wounds to the body and leg, while her niece, identified as Dona Mae Timtim is in critical condition after being hit by stray bullets to the head.

The councilor’s nephew — identified as Luther Joey Bustillo, a traffic enforcer — is also being treated at the hospital for bullet wounds to the body.

Police investigations revealed that the incident occurred at a store in Purok 2, Barangay San Antonio Saturday afternoon, where Gayonan was seen buying something from her sister’s store when a man approached and shot her several times with a caliber-.45 pistol.

Major Dennis Rowell Flores, Talakag police chief, said that Timtim, who was tending the store, was also hit twice on the head as some of the bullets went in, while Bustillo was also at the store during that time and tried to stop the gunman, but the latter’s companion also shot him.

The gunmen initially fled on foot, but later rode a motorcycle towards the direction of Barangay Dagumbaan, police said.

Relatives brought Gayonan, Timtim, and Bustillo to the Talakag Provincial Hospital, but doctors declared the town councilor dead at 3:30 p.m.

Timtim and Bustillo were later transferred to different medical facilities in Cagayan de Oro City.

Police recovered five empty shells and one unfired ammunition from a caliber-.45 pistol, as well as a magazine that still has six bullets of the same caliber. They are still trying to determine the identities and whereabouts of the assailants, who were wearing yellow and dark-colored jackets and long denim pants during the attack.