A mayor in the Philippines narrowly escaped death after officials say he was ambushed by a gang of assailants armed with a rocket launcher.
In a press conference on Monday, Jan. 26, Mayor Akmad Ampatuan, who survived the attack, called for a heightened security detail.
“I didn’t think they would use a gun that large. An RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) is not something an ordinary person uses. This was professional,” he said, according to news.com.au.
The now-viral surveillance footage shows a man crouching behind a gray van across the street from a gas station where Ampatuan was pulling in. Then, the assailant launches the shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon directly at Ampatuan’s black Toyota SUV.
As the RPG is launched, another man in a red shirt is seen shooting an automatic rifle toward the mayor.
The video also shows the projectile appearing to hit the mayor’s SUV before quickly driving away, as smoke lingers on the rear end of the car.
According to local news outlet Minda News, two of the mayor’s security personnel, who were inside the SUV, were injured, three of the suspected attackers were killed and a fourth suspect is still at large.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Randulf Tuaño told news.com.au that the leader of the group was identified as “Raprap” and that his accomplices were his uncle, cousin, and sibling, who was the driver and managed to escape.
“The first angle we are looking at is local tension related to local politics, which may have resulted in the hiring of gunmen-for-hire,” Tuaño said.
According to the same outlet, this is not the first time Ampatuan has been attacked. In 2010, he was the victim of a roadside bombing. Then, in 2014 and 2019, he was the victim of two separate ambushes.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.