US professor killed in Philippines home invasion, companion injured

Masked men forced their way into the Sibulan home of Kent Carpenter and a Filipina companion, shooting the 73-year-old American professor in the head and killing him instantly inside Purok 3, Barangay Ajong, in Negros Oriental. The 34-year-old woman with him survived the attack and was injured.

Police said the intrusion happened late on Sunday night, July 12, 2026, when three masked or bonneted men entered the residence and fled with valuables that included a laptop, cash and a backpack. Later accounts said the woman was also allegedly sexually assaulted during the attack. Investigators have not established a motive.

The Philippine National Police formed a Special Investigation Task Group, SITG Carpenter, to lead the case, and local police said the manhunt was being intensified. Authorities also sought to reassure the public and foreign visitors that the killing was being treated with urgency as officers pursued the suspects.

Carpenter was a longtime professor of biological sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The university said he had been on an extended research assignment in the Philippines and was preparing for retirement in September 2026. His death cut short a career that had tied a U.S. campus to Philippine marine science for decades.

At Silliman University in Dumaguete City, where he had collaborated on marine research since 1976, colleagues described Carpenter as a mentor, collaborator, friend and exceptional scientist. His work focused on Philippine marine biodiversity, the Coral Triangle and the Verde Island Passage, a vital marine corridor advocates have called the “center of the center” of shorefish biodiversity and have pressed to protect as both a national protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Carpenter also served as an expert witness for the Philippines in the South China Sea arbitration, placing his research in a broader legal and environmental struggle over the country’s maritime claims and ecosystems. In a 2024 video, he said he had been studying the Philippine marine environment since 1975.

The killing drew public mourning from Silliman University, the Philippine Association of Marine Science, environmental advocates and Old Dominion University, all of whom called for justice as police continued to trace the men who entered the house and escaped into the night.