Retired cop shot dead in Mandaluyong

A retired policeman was gunned down Wednesday in Mandaluyong City.

Former Senior Police Officer 4 Nestor Pascual, 49, was opening the gate of their garage on P. Cruz street in Barangay Zaniga when a gunman appeared from behind and shot him at pointblank range at about 4:15 p.m.

Pascual is the elder brother of Senior Inspector Hoover Pascual, the head of the station’s anti-illegal drugs unit of the Mandaluyong City police station.

Senior Superintendent Carlos de Sagun, Mandaluyong City police chief said they are eyeing revenge and illegal drugs in the killing of the retired policeman.

De Sagun said the elder Pascual had just arrived home after attending the hearing of a murder case against him at the prosecutor’s office of the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court.

Pascual sustained eight gunshot wounds in the head and different parts of the body. He was declared dead on arrival at the Mandaluyong City Medical Center.

A witness said the gunman, who was wearing a black shirt and pants, walked towards nearby Parada street.

“We have a witness who saw the face of the suspect and could identify him if seen again,” De Sagun said.

Responding Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered six spent shells from a .9mm automatic pistol at the crime scene.

The Star learned that the elder Pascual was accused of killing their family’s errand boy, a certain Ryan, last Sept. 12.

A witness, Efren Marcelo, said the elder Pascual shot Ryan, dismembered his head and body, and placed them in a sack that was thrown into the Pasig River.

The body parts were recovered and Marcelo surfaced to testify against Pascual.

Ryan’s parents from Aklan are poor and cannot afford to file charges against Pascual. Ryan’s uncle, retired policeman Jesus Dominguez, filed a murder complaint against Pascual before the city’s prosecutor’s office last Oct. 27.

In the three previous hearings for the preliminary investigation of the murder case, the victim failed to appear in court. The victim attended the fourth hearing Wednesday, a few hours before he was shot dead.

The younger Pascual did not discount the possibility that the gunman could be after him because of the big number of drug pushers and users he sent to jail.

De Sagun ordered a citywide manhunt for the gunman.