Murder suspect slain in Mandaue shootout

A FORMER barangay tanod who had been hiding for three years after being charged with murder was killed in a shootout in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City last Tuesday night.

Joselito Cortes, 43, a resident of the barangay, was shot in different parts of his body. One of the four chasing police officers was hit in his left shoulder.

At 8:45 p.m., a team from the Police Station 6 in Barangay Canduman went to Cortes’s house to serve an arrest warrant issued in 2009.

When the police officers, led by Insp. Luis Alama, arrived at the house, Cortes ran outside using the back door. The police officers chased him.

Cortes, who carried a .45 pistol and a .357 magnum revolver, fired at the police officers, hitting SPO1 Tirso Plaña in his shoulder. A bullet-proof vest kept a bullet from hitting SPO3 Gerson Rosindi in the stomach.

Insp. Alama, in an interview over GMA’s Balitang Bisdak, said the suspect used to visit his family secretly. Their house is located at the back of the police station.

Tip

When they received a tip from an asset last Tuesday night, Alana said they went immediately to the suspect’s house to serve the arrest warrant. The suspect’s wife refused to open the door at first.

When the police officers entered the house, the suspect, who hid inside the toilet, ran outside.

Alana said that Cortes fired twice, prompting them to fire back. They cornered the suspect in a ditch, where his body fell.

The police called the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf) and the barangay ambulance to bring the suspect to the hospital. When Eruf personnel arrived, they declared the suspect dead.

His body was brought to the Rolling Hills Funeral Parlor for autopsy and ballistic examination.

Won’t listen

Virginia Cortes said she tried to convince her husband to surrender, but he would not listen. He feared that he might be killed in jail, since he used to arrest lawbreakers when he was a barangay tanod, she said.

Chief Insp. Michael Anthony Bastes, chief of the Mandaue City Police Office’s Investigation and Detective Management Branch, said the police officers deserve an award and a promotion.

SPO1 Plaña received treatment at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Cortes was accused of killing a woman because of a personal conflict three years ago.

Alama said that Cortes shot the woman twice inside her room. The woman reportedly rented a room owned by Cortes and his wife.