BACOLOD City – A 17-year-old boy was shot dead in Purok Paraiso 2, Barangay Taloc, Bago City, Negros Occidental.
Patrolman Richard Rites – a policeman assigned in Tapaz, Capiz – allegedly killed Grade 9 student Marky Venancio.
Rites and Venancio were both residents of Barangay Taloc.
The shooting happened at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to police investigation, Venancio was among seven armed suspects who caused turmoil by chasing and threatening residents in Barangay Taloc that night.
Some residents asked help from the 32-year-old Rites, who was watching over his store at the time. The policeman told them to hide inside his house for safety.
The suspects pursued the residents, prompting Rites to introduce himself as a police officer.
Venancio then allegedly pointed a .38-caliber revolver at Rites – the latter retaliated and fired his service firearm.
Venancio was hit on the body. He was rushed to the Bago City Hospital where attending physician Dr. Lewyn Torre pronounced him “dead-on-arrival.”
It was not immediately clear what happened to the other suspects
Rites, on the other hand, was placed under the custody of the Bago City police./PN
