Gunman kills municipal election officer in Sulu

COTABATO CITY - A lone gunman on Tuesday shot dead a municipal election officer in downtown Jolo in Sulu, police said Wednesday.

Reports reaching the office of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman identified the victim as Mergani Wahid, 42.

The Sulu provincial police office said Wahid was election officer of Tapul, a politically troubled town in west of Sulu, a component province of the ARMM.

Wahid was riding a motorcycle on his way home to Kasulutan Village from his daughter’s school in the downtown when his attacker blocked his path and repeatedly shot him with a .45 caliber pistol.

A bystander named Alsaid Idzmar was hit by a stray bullet in the leg.

The suspect managed to escape even before responding policemen could reach the scene.

Wahid was declared dead on arrival at the Sulu Provincial Hospital, less than a kilometer away from the spot where he was attacked.