Two assailants on motorcycles shot Kho and another journalist, Bonifacio Loreto, in front of a convenience store at around 11 p.m. in the Quezon City neighborhood of Manila, according to news reports. Authorities said the journalists died from multiple gunshot wounds and that police recovered several .45 caliber and 9-millimeter shells from the scene, the reports said.
Both reporters were columnists for the Aksyon Ngayon (Action Now) a weekly tabloid newspaper that had published only one issue a few weeks before the attack. The publication focuses on local community issues, including corruption.
Ray Moreno, a friend of the journalists who was with them at the time of the attack, told local journalists that the assailants opened fire on them at close range and that he was able to survive the attack by pretending he was dead, the reports said.
Kho’s daughter, Richelle, told local radio station Radyo Inquirer 990 AM that her father’s murder may have been related to his reporting, according to news reports. Richelle did not cite any specific stories she believed could have been behind the shooting, according to the reports.
Police said filed murder charges against two men who were identified by witnesses, according to the Committee for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a local journalists support group. The two men remain at large.
Police said they were unable to establish a motive or determine if the men were killed because of their work as journalists.