SOLSONA, Ilocos Norte, Sept. 2– A loaded gun was pointed at him, one meter away. The lone gunman pulled the trigger and the weapon misfired. Then, the suspect fled aboard a getaway motorcycle waiting for him.
That was how Sangguniang Bayan member Atty. Marcelino Quitoras, Jr. described the horrifying incident wherein the armed man attempted to shoot and kill him in front of the Solsona town hall at past 1:00 p.m. today. He surmised the suspect was a hired killer.
He was about to board his car at the parking lot after attending their SB regular session at the town hall when the gunman suddenly appeared in front of him, he told mediamen. The suspect pulled the trigger and luckily, the gun misfired, he added.
Quitoras recalled that he had received a death threat during the campaign period of the last May 13 local elections here.
Police vowed to probe the case without fear or favor to determine the motive behind the botched assassination attempt against another lawyer in Ilocos Norte.
Record showed that lawyer Ramon Leano, MMSU college of law dean, was shot and wounded last Feb. 14, 2013. Last week, seven of the nine accused were already arrested for frustrated murder.
Record further showed that at least six lawyers including two judges were murdered in Ilocos Norte in a span of 12 years since 2001, all remained unsolved. (Sentinel reportorial team)
