ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A lawyer was seriously injured while two of his bodyguards were killed in a gun attack at dawn yesterday in this port city, police said.
Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, city police director, said Atty. Homer Mabale was hit in the lower left armpit, while his companions Jomer and his brother Emmanuel Lozada died on the spot.
Investigation showed the victims were on their way home in their service vehicle when gunmen fired at them near Lopez Subdivision in Barangay Tugbungan.
Responding policemen failed to arrest the suspects who fled on board a motorcycle. The victims’ car sustained several bullet holes.
Investigators recovered five shells and two slugs believed fired from a .45-caliber pistol. The motive for the attack has yet to be determined although police suspect it was work-related.