SCENE RESPONDERS. An ambulance and police patrol car respond to a grenade blast incident along the national highway in Matalam, North Cotabato late Wednesday (Dec. 15, 2021) that injured three, including a minor. A manhunt is underway against the perpetrators who fired at the victims before tossing a grenade. (Photo courtesy of Matalam MPS)
KIDAPAWAN CITY – Joint police and military forces here are hunting down two suspects responsible for the grenade attack Wednesday night in Matalam, North Cotabato that left three persons, including a minor, hurt.
Major Junrel Amotan, Matalam town police chief, said Thursday the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade is helping the police locate the perpetrators.
Amotan said the blast occurred at past 9 p.m. along the national highway in Barangay Kilada.
Amotan identified the victims as Elizabeth, Florencio, and a 10-year-old boy, all surnamed Wahing and residents of Barangay Poblacion in the same town.
“They sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies and are now confined in a municipal hospital,” the police official said in an interview by reporters here.
The victims were all in front of a roadside store when two men on a motorbike arrived and fired shots using a pistol.
“The attackers then tossed a hand grenade and sped away,” Amotan said quoting witnesses.
Police found empty shells for a .45-caliber pistol at the scene.
A closed-circuit television camera footage showed the suspects on a motorbike were seen suspiciously roaming near the store before the blast.
Amotan said the identities and motive of the attackers are being determined. (PNA)
