28 September 2005
Doctor dead in ambush at Calasiao intersection
CALASIAO – A doctor died a few hours after he and his wife were ambushed by a lone gunman near a road intersection here at past 7 a.m. last Tuesday shortly after coming out from a local hotel.
The victim was identified as Dr. Cerdan Lopez, 49, of Galang street in San Carlos City. He was shot through the windshield of the black brand new Ford Escape he was driving just as the car slowed down while approaching the road intersection.
The gunman approached the front right side of the vehicle and opened fire on Lopez, through the windshield. His wife Amy, 49, also a doctor, who was sitting beside him, was unscathed.
Dr. Vivencio Villaflor, owner of the Villaflor Doctors Hospital in Dagupan City, reported at about 12 noon last Tuesday that Lopez was in critical condition. A few minutes later, another report from the hospital stated that the victim was dead.
Inspector Antonio Malicdan, deputy chief of police of Calasiao, said the gunman might have fired eight shots based on the empty shells of Cal. 45 pistol found near the crime scene and another inside the victim’s vehicle.
Eight of the bullets found their marks in the victim’s abdomen. He was already in serious condition when he was wheeled into the hospital’s operating room.
Malicdan said the Lopez couple had just come out from the Regency Hotel a few meters away when the incident happened. They were believed either going home to San Carlos City or proceeding to Urdaneta City.
The gunman and a companion must have waited for the Lopezes in front of Chowking Restaurant were vehicles usually slow down upon reaching the road intersection.
A bystander who was called by Mrs. Lopez to drive them to the hospital said he saw two youths fleeing from the crime scene aboard a motorcycle, taking the Jose R. de Venecia Sr. road towards barangay Lucao in Dagupan City to the west.
Dr. Lopez used to be a staff of the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City till he resigned to devote himself full-time to private practice. Motive for the slaying was still unknown at presstime.
The victim was identified as Dr. Cerdan Lopez, 49, of Galang street in San Carlos City. He was shot through the windshield of the black brand new Ford Escape he was driving just as the car slowed down while approaching the road intersection.
The gunman approached the front right side of the vehicle and opened fire on Lopez, through the windshield. His wife Amy, 49, also a doctor, who was sitting beside him, was unscathed.
Dr. Vivencio Villaflor, owner of the Villaflor Doctors Hospital in Dagupan City, reported at about 12 noon last Tuesday that Lopez was in critical condition. A few minutes later, another report from the hospital stated that the victim was dead.
Inspector Antonio Malicdan, deputy chief of police of Calasiao, said the gunman might have fired eight shots based on the empty shells of Cal. 45 pistol found near the crime scene and another inside the victim’s vehicle.
Eight of the bullets found their marks in the victim’s abdomen. He was already in serious condition when he was wheeled into the hospital’s operating room.
Malicdan said the Lopez couple had just come out from the Regency Hotel a few meters away when the incident happened. They were believed either going home to San Carlos City or proceeding to Urdaneta City.
The gunman and a companion must have waited for the Lopezes in front of Chowking Restaurant were vehicles usually slow down upon reaching the road intersection.
A bystander who was called by Mrs. Lopez to drive them to the hospital said he saw two youths fleeing from the crime scene aboard a motorcycle, taking the Jose R. de Venecia Sr. road towards barangay Lucao in Dagupan City to the west.
Dr. Lopez used to be a staff of the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City till he resigned to devote himself full-time to private practice. Motive for the slaying was still unknown at presstime.
