Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Man shoots it out with cops, dies
A POLICE officer was shot in the chest while responding to an armed person alarm on Sikatuna St. in Barangay Day-as, Cebu City at 3 a.m. yesterday.
It was, PO3 Erwin Ferrer said, a scene out of an action movie. The suspect Ferrer was chasing never turned around when he fired the shot. Instead, the suspect shot with the gun over his shoulder.
“Abi nako naa ra na sa salida kanang mapusilan nga nagtalikod ang suspek.
Wala na siya miatubang, deretso na siya pusil nako (I thought shooting over your shoulders is something you see only in the movies. But that’s how he shot me.),” Ferrer said in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu inside his room at the Chong Hua Hospital.
Ferrer, 38, a member of the miscellaneous team of Parian Police Station, took a bullet in his right chest, below his shoulder blade. Doctors recommended that he undergoes an operation to take out the slug that got embedded in his chest.
Despite his injury, Ferrer managed to shoot back and kill Christopher P. Reponte, 25. According to Reponte’s driver’s license, he resided in Univille, Kasambagan, Cebu City and was a native of Surigao del Sur.
Reponte, who died on the spot, was also hit in the chest.
Ferrer told Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador, who visited him at the hospital, that he, together with SPO2 Ricardo Escobedo, PO3 Arnel Vender, P01 Elmer Degoro, were dispatched to Barangay Kamagayan for an armed person alarm.
They were on board a patrol car (SEZ 930). Tanods Hermogenes Borres and Michael Gosiangco also boarded the patrol car to serve as the police team’s guide.
When they arrived in Kamagayan, some pimps told the police team that the suspect, who was later identified as Reponte, walked towards the neighboring Barangay Day-as.
Ferrer said they spotted Reponte at the junction of P. del Rosario and Sikatuna Sts. In Day-as. Ferrer, who occupied the front seat, got off the patrol car and approached Reponte.
Instead of yielding to police, Reponte reportedly ran away, prompting Ferrer to chase him.
Recovered
Ferrer said he was only few meters away from Reponte when the latter pulled out a gun and shot the police officer.
A .38 revolver with three empty shells and one bullet was recovered by a team of Homicide Section investigators led by SPO1 Roger Nedamo. They believed the gun to have been used by Reponte in shooting Ferrer.
Ferrer surrendered his 9mm Beretta pistol, with one magazine loaded with 11 bullets, to the homicide investigators. The two firearms are now under the custody of the Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) 7 for examination.
Comendador said a Medalya ng Sugatang Magiting will be awarded to Ferrer.
He will also recommend to Camp Crame, through the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7, to promote Ferrer.
He, however, said that getting injured in the line of duty is part of the hazards of being a police officer.
“But, it’s good to know that the injury was not fatal,” he said.
Ferrer’s wife, Jessyl, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, appealed to the city government and to the police organization to help in the hospital bills of her husband.
She said she was asked by the hospital to shell out P30,000 to cover the operation of Ferrer.
Comendador assured Jessyl that he will also help in facilitating financial aid for Ferrer’s hospital expenses. (JST)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 17, 2008 issue)
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