MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon —Bukidnon’s top criminal fugitive was killed Thursday,
September 24, following a brief, violent shootout with police operatives at his remote hideout.

Richard Dagasal Dagno, 47, who topped both provincial and city police search lists, died after
drawing a weapon on a joint tracker team in Sitio Lagaan, a rural enclave of Barangay Apo
Macote.
The midday encounter underscores the volatile security landscape in the southern Philippine
province, where authorities have intensified their crackdown on long-term fugitives.
The operation unfolded at 11:58 AM when specialized tracking units cornered Dagno as he
arrived at the scene on the back of a black Honda Beat motorcycle.
According to official police situation reports dispatched by Bukidnon Police Provincial Director
Colonel Oliver Sotto Navales to Regional Director Brigadier General Nestor C. Babagay Jr., the
fugitive instantly realized he was walking into a dragnet.
“Upon sensing the operating personnel, Dagno fired his weapon at the officers,” the tactical
report stated.
The police tracker team returned fire in self-defense, hitting Dagno once in the chest and twice in
the lower back. He died at the scene, a casualty later verified by forensic investigators.
A Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) team swept the rural dirt road until late afternoon,
recovering the weapon Dagno allegedly used to spark the gunfight.
Investigators retrieved one .38-caliber revolver loaded with two spent shells and three live
rounds, two 9mm spent cartridges ejected from police service weapons and a black Honda Beat
motorcycle bearing license plate K6340J.
The forensic inventory was cataloged in the presence of local village councilman Barangay
Kagawad and a representative from the local media network.
While Dagno lay dead, police tackled and apprehended his 38-year-old motorcycle driver, who
attempted to flee into the surrounding brush.
A body search of the driver yielded an empty cigarette pack containing roughly 0.5 grams of
dried marijuana leaves and seeds, valued at a nominal P60.
The driver is now being held at the Malaybalay City Police Station. Prosecutors are preparing
formal charges against him for attempted murder and illegal drug possession under Republic Act
9165.

Dagno had been evading justice since August 2022, when a local court issued a no-bail warrant
for his arrest on murder charges under Criminal Case No. 39294-22. His body was transferred to
the Bukidnon Provincial Medical Center for a formal declaration of death. (melbmadera)