CATARMAN, Northern Samar, Philippines—A former town mayor and his wife sustained serious injuries after three unidentified gunmen shot the couple as they were leaving the lawyer’s office here on Tuesday afternoon

Senior Inspector Wilson Andales, chief investigator of the Catarman police, identified the victims as lawyer Don Avalon, 47, and his wife, Dr. Mary Ann Avalon, 49, provincial health officer of Northern Samar. Don Avalon once served as the mayor of San Roque town, Northern Samar, for three terms and is the older brother of incumbent San Roque Mayor Andre Avalon.

One of Avalon’s staff members told police investigators that the lawyer and his wife were about to board their car to go home to San Roque town at 3:30 p.m., when the gunmen arrived on a motorcycle, fired at the couple and immediately fled, Andales said.

The two were brought to a hospital here for treatment.

The police have yet to establish the motive for the shooting.

There were also reports that three unidentified men were looking for Doctor Avalon in her office at Northern Samar Provincial Hospital several minutes before the shooting.

The three were allegedly informed that the doctor had been fetched by her husband and could be found at the former mayor’s office, which was just two blocks away from the hospital.

The former San Roque mayor was once a provincial board member of Northern Samar and also ran for the second district congressional seat of the province. He ran for vice governor in 2007 but after he lost, he returned to private law practice, handling mostly land dispute cases.