Motorcycle-riding gunmen shot dead the father of Chao Tiao Yumol, the shooter in the Ateneo de Manila University gun attack that left three people dead, in front of their house in Lamitan City in Basilan.
Police Lt. Eirene Mazon, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Rolando Yumol was declared dead at the Lamitan City District Hospital due to several bullet wounds.
“He went outside their house to open their hardware store when the suspects, on board a motorcycle, started shooting him,” Mazon told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview.
The gunmen sped off the motorcycle after the attack, according to Mazon, who said the incident happened between 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.
The attack of Yumol’s father came less than a week after the Ateneo shooting wherein former Lamitan City mayor Rose Furigay, her executive assistant and a security guard of Ateneo were killed.
Furigay was supposed to attend the graduation of her daughter Hannah from the Ateneo Law School when the incident occurred. Hannah was also wounded in the attack, along with another parent.
Yumol fled using a stolen vehicle, but he was arrested less than 30 minutes after the attack.
Yumol was already charged with a string of criminal cases that include three counts of murder. He is currently detained at the Quezon City Police District at Camp Karingal in Quezon City.
Police Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus Alba, chief information officer of the PNP, urged the public to refrain from making conclusions on the attack of Yumol’s father.
This, as speculations are already being made that the attack on Yumol’s father was connected with the death of Furigay and the wounding of her daughter through “rido”.
“Our police personnel in Lamitan City are already conducting an investigation regarding the case.
So far, it is speculative to assume its direct relation to the shooting incident that happened last Sunday at the Ateneo de Manila University,” said Alba.