CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Four soldiers were gunned down by their colleague and another was wounded inside the camp of the Army 4th Infantry Division in Barangay Patag here before dawn on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Major Francisco Garello Jr., 4th ID spokesperson, said the four fatalities were sleeping in their rooms at the Service Support Battalion (SSBN) when the suspect with the rank of private shot them using an M16 rifle.

“Pinuntahan ‘yun ng suspek isa-isa at ‘yun nga (The suspect went to their rooms one by one) shot the victims," Garello said, adding that one of the fatalities was the suspect's roommate.

Two soldiers noticed the gunshots and tried to wrest the gun away from the suspect when he forcibly entered their room.

However, the gun went off and one of the soldiers was wounded but they managed to neutralize the suspect in self-defense.

The suspect visited a total of five rooms, Garello said. The wounded was taken to a camp hospital.

The 4th ID is still gathering other information from witnesses to establish what happened prior to the incident.

“Wala po tayong prior knowledge sa ngayon kung ano talaga ang naging motibo at kinu-collate pa ang mga statements before nangyari ito at sino mga nakasama niya (We don't have prior knowledge for now what the motive really is, and we are gathering the statements prior the incident and who were with him),’’ Garello said.

The 4th ID has created a special team to expedite the investigation to determine the truth and come up with a plan to avoid a repeat of the incident.

The names of the fatalities and wounded from Mindanao were not disclosed and the 4th ID is contacting their relatives about the incident.

Garello and the rest of the 4th ID, under the leadership of Major Gen. Wilbur Mamawag, condoled with the families of the fatalities.

The 4th ID assured that all assistance and benefits will be extended to the family of the victims.