BFP member on duty shot dead by suspected 'guns-for-hire'

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen killed a member of the Bureau of Fire Protection right in the premises of the fire station in Katipunan town in Zamboanga del Norte on Monday, October 14.

Brig. Gen. Bowenn Joey Masauding, director of the Police Regional Office-9, told reporters on Tuesday that he has directed the officers in the Zamboanga Del Norte Provincial Police Office to enlist the help of local officials in Katipunan in identifying the killers of Fire Officer 3 Ronie Baculad, who died instantly from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the attack.

Baculad was on duty when two men riding a motorcycle together pulled over near their fire station in Barangay Uno in Katipunan and shot him with pistols, killing him instantly.

The two gunmen, who had immediately escaped, are now the subject of an extensive joint search by municipal officials, personnel of the Katipunan Municipal Police Station and intelligence agents from different PRO-9 units. 

Masauding said investigators would also tap the support of barangay officials in putting a closure to the incident, possibly the first-ever murder in Mindanao of an on-duty BFP member.

Companions of the slain Baculad said there is a possibility that the duo who killed Baculad could be killers-for-hire.