BACOLOD CITY - A father lost his four-year-old son after they were ambushed and fired at by two armed men at Sitio Palasanan, Barangay Mahalang, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday.
Lt. Alfred Mansoy, deputy police chief of Himamaylan City Police Station, said the victim and his 28-year-old father were riding a horse on their way home from a river, when the assailants, who were hiding in trees, shot them.
The suspects were identified by the police as siblings Jigger Dela Torre, 25, and Jay-r Dela Torre, 30, both residents of the Sitio Palasanan, who reportedly waited in ambush for the victims.
Mansoy said the suspects were reportedly targeting the victim’s father, but hit the child instead in the head. The gunmen, armed with unidentified firearms, then fled.
Mansoy said the suspects reportedly had an ax to grind with the child’s father due to a misunderstanding two months ago.
He said the child’s father did not expect that the suspects would commit such a crime out of anger against him.
Mansoy said murder charges will be filed against the Dela Torre brothers, who remain at large.