4 hurt in shooting spree in Agusan Norte - police

BUTUAN CITY- An alleged government militiaman reportedly shot four miners in a gold-rush area in Barangay Poblacion 2 in Santiago town in Agusan del Norte last Sunday afternoon, a police report said. A belated report reaching the Caraga Police Regional Office said Joshua Porogoy alias "Vic Vic Sandag," an alleged member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu), and a certain Elmer Tandag shot the victims who were resting in a waiting shed at Sitio Palo 12. Initial police investigation showed that four small-scale miners headed by Rodel Lumag Morado, a resident of Zone 3, Barangay Poblacion 2, were in the area when Porogoy and Tandag allegedly shot them without any provocation. Investigators were not able to identify the type of gun used in the shooting, the report added. The Morado and his three unidentified companions were rushed to the Agusan del Norte Provincial Hospital in Butuan City. The suspects remain at large. In the past, the gold-rush area was a scene of several killings due to conflict in ownership of mine tunnels that were reportedly owned by police and military personnel assigned in the area. - Ben Serrano/LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV