A POLICE officer was gunned down in the mountain barangay of Tigbao, Cebu City last night.

PO3 Alfredo Datu, who was in his 40s, was pronounced dead on arrival at the North General Hospital. He was shot in the buttock.

Datu was reportedly assigned at the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, but he applied for early retirement.

SPO4 Alejandro Sar-veda of the Talamban police said the shooting happened around 6:30 p.m., while Datu was getting money from his pocket to pay for the food he ate in an eatery.

The gunman, who was described as slim and to be in his 20s, approached Datu and shot him at close range.

“The gunman was only about one meter away from the victim,” Sarveda told Sun.Star Cebu.

Amateur job

The slug from a .45 pistol tore through Datu’s buttock, exiting in his lower abdomen.

After the shooting, the gunman boarded a motorcycle parked 20 meters from the scene and driven by another man.

Sarveda surmised the gunman was not a professional judging by the way the victim was shot.

The Talamban police recovered two empty shells from the scene.

Datu left behind three children from his estranged wife.

Gerald, Datu’s youngest son, said he learned about the shooting from his neighbors.

Gerald said he last spoke with his father three days ago. He said his father did not mention anyone who wanted him dead.

Gerald said his father and mother separated three years ago. The elder Datu had been living in Sitio Sun-ob, Talamban since then.

Sarveda said they are still investigating what Datu was doing in Tigbao.

He said they are considering personal grudge and illegal drugs as possible motives.