Ex-cop gunned down

A retired policeman was shot dead while he was driving his colorum passenger van in Tondo, Manila yesterday. Police identified the victim as SPO1 Salvador B. Legaspi, 53, a councilor of Barangay 47, Zone 6, Manila.

Legaspi was on his way to Ayala Boulevard and had just left the terminal on Camba St. and Sto. Cristo Extension with 18 passengers when he was shot in the head at around 8:20 a.m. between Moriones St. and Road 10. He died on the spot.

“There were four men who rode together. His wife felt suspicious upon seeing the four men. She asked me to tell them to transfer to the back. Three of the four men obliged to sit at the back but one of them insisted to sit on the second row. He had a cap and a headset and he really ignored my request,” a witness said.

Erlinda, the victim’s wife, said she sent her husband a text message warning her about the suspects but he failed to read it. “The way it happened, the whole thing seemed to be planned,” Manila Police District Moriones station commander Supt. Redentor Ulsano said.

Police described the gunman as between 30 to 40-years-old, 5’4”, medium built, has brown complexion, and wearing a black bullcap, black T-shirt, and black pants.

He was armed with a. 45-caliber pistol. Police are eyeing local politics as the possible motive of the incident since the victim was supposed to run for chairman in the next barangay election.