AMPATUAN, Maguindanao del Sur — Authorities are hot on the trail of two remaining suspects in the killing of a public school teacher here over the weekend.

Ampatuan Police chief Capt. Giuseppe Tamayo identified the victim as Charles Darwin Candolo Fuentes, a teacher at Kauran Elementary School in Barangay Kauran.

He reported that the victim was flagged down and shot dead by three armed men along the national highway in Kauran village on Saturday night.

"It was a case of 'agaw motor' (motorcycle snatching)," Tamayo said, adding that two empty shells for a .45-caliber pistol were found at the crime scene by authorities.

One of three suspects was arrested an hour later in a nearby village.

"One of them was arrested with the help of the Philippine Army at a checkpoint in Barangay Kapinpilan, about 10 kilometers from the crime scene while riding the victim's motorcycle," Tamayo said.

Tamayo withheld the identity of the suspect, now detained at the police lockup cell, pending the arrest of the two other suspects.

Meanwhile, colleagues of Fuentes at the school have appealed for justice over his death.

"The whole Kauran Elementary School educative family mourns the sudden death of a young, dedicated, promising great teacher and a very well-loved person," the school administration and teachers said in a statement Monday.

They said Fuentes' death has left a void in their "hearts and school, which will be difficult to fill. He may be gone, but never forgotten. We honor and cherish your memory, Sir. May God be with you."