2 shooting incidents mar Maguindanao Sur town
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 11 February) — Two separate shooting incidents occurred in Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur on Tuesday, police confirmed.
Lt. Dean Macusi, Buluan police chief, however, declined to give details amid claims that one of the shooting incidents was an “ambush-drama.”
Macusi said in a phone interview that they were still gathering evidence, witnesses accounts and CCTV footage to determine what really happened, which also involved a 13-year-old boy.
Anwar Dimasinsil, who is running for the town’s vice mayoralty race, posted on Facebook that his convoy was allegedly ambushed, pointing to a light gray car as behind the attack.
He said that the driver of their sports utility vehicle (SUV) was hit by a bullet, but was not hurt as he was wearing a bullet proof vest.
The incident happened around 11 a.m. along the national highway of the town, not far from the Maguindanao del Sur provincial capitol.
But former Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu alleged that the shooting of Dimasinsil’s SUV could be an “ambush-drama.”
Dimasinsil is allied with the rival camp of Mangudadatu, who is running for Maguindanao del Sur representative.
The 13-year-old boy, whose name is withheld for security reasons, said his car was parked at the road side when a pick-up vehicle came close to him.
Feeling uncomfortable, he said he moved forward but then an SUV followed, and when he took a U-turn that was when he was fired at.
Mangudadatu said that the minor, who was driving a light gray car, survived the shooting incident that he blamed on Dimasinsil’s group.
“He was lucky to have survived while inside the car. He drove the car and sought help at the market area,” Mangudadatu said.
Mangudadatu claimed the vehicle of the minor, who is his distant relative and a son of a retired police officer, may have been mistaken by the gunmen and that it was impossible for him to ambush Dimasinsil’s SUV because “the boy was riding only by himself and had no other companions.”
He said the minor was “traumatized while asking for help.”
According to the former governor, Dimasinsil’s group may have staged an “ambush-drama” and that his group may have been the one who fired at their own SUV when they found out that they “had hit the wrong vehicle with a minor inside.”
Mangudadatu said the suspects allegedly cleaned the crime scene.
He called on the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting incidents. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
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