SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TASK GROUP. The special investigation task group for the ambush of ex-governor Amado Espino Jr. headed by Pangasinan Police Provincial Office director Col. Redrico Maranan (second from right) conducts a press briefing Wednesday (Sept.11) night for the update on the case. Two suspected get-away vehicles of the assailants were recovered hours after the ambush at Barangay Cobol San Carlos City and Barangay Pasima Malasiqui town. (Photo by Hilda Austria)
SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan — Authorities recovered two suspected get-away vehicles of the assailants in the ambush of former Pangasinan governor Amado Espino, Jr., hours after the incident.
Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) director, Col. Redrico Maranan, in an interview Wednesday, said a red Hyundai hatchback was found in Barangay Cobol here while a metallic blue Ford Everest was found in Barangay Pasima in Malasiqui.
“There were high-powered firearms in the vehicles and the investigators are processing the evidences,” he said.
Maranan added that closed circuit television cameras around the area and the dash camera of the vehicles, along with eyewitnesses, are being investigated by the authorities.
He said a special investigation task group, called SITG Espino, was formed with the joint efforts of the PPPO, Crime Investigation and Detection Group Regional Office (Ilocos), Police Regional Office among others, to conduct an in-depth investigation into the case.
“Rest assured we are doing everything to solve this case,” Maranan said.
He said as requested, police are providing security to the family of Espino following the ambush.
Espino and his companions Agapito Cuison, Staff Sgt. Jason Malsi, Anthony Columbino (retired police), Staff Sgt. Richard Esguerra and Kervin Marbori were onboard a Toyota Innova and a Land Cruiser, when they were fired at by still unidentified gunmen while traversing Barangay Ilang, San Carlos City on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
Maranan said Espino sustained a gunshot wound on the right side of his stomach. His bodyguards also sustained gunshot wounds but were able to drive to Blessed Family Doctors General Hospital. Esguerra, however, died on the spot due to several gunshot wounds.
“The ex-governor is on stable condition while his other companions are being treated at the hospital,” he said. (PNA)
