Breaking | Assassin guns down mayor, three others outside Manila airport terminal
Wife, baby grandson and assistant also die as gunman open fires in third assassination bid
A gunman opened fire on a Philippine mayor as he left the country's main airport yesterday along with crowds of Christmas travellers, killing him, his wife, grandson and another man.
A video clip uploaded to the local GMA television network's website showed terrified onlookers screaming and crying while a man, apparently fatally wounded, lay face down on the pavement outside the passenger terminal.
The dead were Ukol Talumpa, mayor of the southern town of Labangan, his wife, his 18-month-old grandson and a male aide, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said. "I understand that was the third attempt on the life of the mayor and this time the culprits succeeded," de Lima said. "It's extremely deplorable that even the wife, grandson and a staff [assistant] were also killed."
The gunman fired on Talumpa outside Terminal 3 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, named after President Benigno Aquino's father, who was assassinated at the airport 30 years ago.
I heard shots. I whipped out my pistol and ran to the area, but the gunman had fled
The party was attacked shortly after getting off a flight from the southern Philippines, Manila airport general Angel Honrado said.