COTABATO CITY – A shooting incident occurred in a densely populated commercial district here on Tuesday, which left a police official and two other civilians wounded.
Injured in the brief shootout were Major Elexon Bona, commander of City Police Station 2, and civilians Hubert Concepcion and Fitzgerald Patagan.
Bona sustained a superficial bullet wound while the condition of the two civilians is not yet known but reports said they are now recuperating in a hospital in the city.
Speaking to reporters, Bona said police personnel responded to a shooting incident in Barangay Rosary Heights 9 at past 10:00pm on Tuesday, which reportedly involved civilians.
Based on reports, two unidentified men riding on a motorbike arrived at the area and opened fire at Concepcion and Patagan.
Reports said the shootout was allegedly triggered by the non-payment of a Php15,000 cash bet for a Mobile Legends online game.
Bona said the men, armed with assault rifles, also opened fire at police officers who responded to the shooting incident.
But Bona said they are still verifying the reported non-payment of online bet as the cause of the incident.
“That is not confirmed yet,” he said.
At least 20 persons were held for questioning after the incident but were later released.
Philippine News Network 