Monday, September 29, 2008 Soldiers shoot laborer dead after robbery try By Malu C. Manar Correspondent
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A laborer suspected to be a robber was shot dead by government soldiers after he allegedly tried to ransack a military detachment in Barangay Kibayao in Carmen, North Cotabato, around 10:30 p.m., Saturday, an Army official said.
Colonel Dickson Hermoso, chief of the Army's 7th Infantry Battalion, said the suspect and his two companions attempted to steal the rifles of his men stationed at the command post of the Bravo Company in Barangay Kibayao, a few meters away from the headquarters of the Army's 602nd Brigade.
The suspects, onboard a motorcycle, arrived at the area around 10:30 p.m., and tried to enter the command post by destroying the barbed wires, Hermoso said.
But one of the soldiers positioned at the area heard the noise and noticed movements outside. Minutes later, there were shots fired coming from all directions, Hermoso told radio station dxND.
One of the suspects died on the spot but his two other companions, onboard a motorcycle, escaped and exited towards Barangay Kibenis, Carmen, reports from the 7th IB said.
A caliber .38 revolver with six bullets were recovered. The firearm was turned over to Carmen Police.
The Carmen police, however, has other version of the story and said the shooting was an 'overkill.'
An investigator said the suspect worked as a laborer in one of the buy-and-sell stores in Barangay Poblacion and that the worker was on his way home Saturday night when one of the soldiers fired shots towards his direction.
His relatives told Carmen police investigators they could not believe the suspect planned to rob the Army detachment.
They even quoted one of the relatives as saying: "How can he rob the camp?
He knew fully well the detachment is heavily guarded by soldiers.
The police refused to disclose the identity of the slain suspect while investigation is ongoing.
