Mayor Filipina Grace America is given first aid at the hospital shortly after the car she was riding in was peppered with bullets. Photo by GEMI FORMARAN
Quezon mayor survives ambush
INFANTA, QUEZON — The incumbent mayor of this coastal town was injured after the car she was riding in was peppered with bullets by still unidentified assailants.
Infanta Mayor Filipina Grace America, 60, sustained a single gunshot wound in the right arm but is now in stable condition, said Quezon police director Col. Joel Villanueva.
Villanueva said elements of the Infanta police station under Major Francis Aldrich Garcia immediately launched a pursuit operation against the assailants as well as alerted all police and military units in adjacent towns.
Garcia said the incident occirred at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday at the poblacion while America was on board her service Chevrolet Trailblazer (SAA 1670) driven by Alvin America.
Garcia said America was only hit in the right arm while her driver was unharmed.
The mayor was on her way home from the church during the attack. She was rushed to the Claro M. Recto Hospital.
Responding policemen recovered from the crime scene two slugs and six empty shells.
Police are still digging deeper into the incident but some local officials of this town known for being peaceful believe it has nothing to do with local politics.
