THREE persons were killed while three others were wounded, including the daughter of a town mayor in Negros Occidental, following a shootout between the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team and two unidentified armed robbers at Barangay Sum-ag, Bacolod City Friday afternoon.
Police identified the fatalities as pedicab driver Delfin Ortiz, 70, of the said village, who was hit by a stray bullet on his stomach, and the two suspects, who have yet to be identified as of Friday. One of the suspects was only identified as a certain “Enoy.”
Also hit by stray bullets were 71-year-old Estrella Claridad, Walter Dojena, and a Grade 9 student, daughter of Isabela Mayor Joselito Malabor.
Malabor's daughter was hit on her left thigh, Claridad was hit on her right arm, while Dojena sustained a gunshot wound on his Achilles heel.
They were all brought to South Bacolod General Hospital in Barangay Pahanocoy.
Senior Inspector Hercules Trigue Jr., deputy chief for administration of Bago City Police Station, said the suspects allegedly robbed Christopher Gapay, 32, of Barangay 7, Bacolod City, and driver Ruben Cuelo, 38, who were employees of cigarette firm Japan Tobacco International, when their panel van stopped at Barangay Taloc for a personal necessity.
The robbers on board a motorcycle reportedly followed them and threatened them at gunpoint.
They even got into a commotion when one of the victims refused to give them their cash collection, Trigue said.
But the robbers were able to cart away the victims' P39, 460 cash collection anyway and fled. A tricycle driver, who passed by the area, saw the incident and informed the authorities.
Response
Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, acting director of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), in a media interview held at Police Station 9, said the Swat team which is situated at the boundary of Bago and Bacolod for border security patrol were informed by a tricycle driver about an ongoing robbery and hold-up incident in the area of Bago City past 4 p.m.
When the suspects on a motorcycle passed by the Swat team, the informant identified them and their motorcycle, prompting one Swat team composed of seven police officers to respond to a call for assistance. A brief chase then followed towards Sum-ag village.
Ebreo said one of the robbers then allegedly drew his .38 caliber revolver to the pursuing policemen, prompting the latter to retaliate.
The suspects then fell from their motorcycle during the shootout and were cornered in front of Sum-ag National High School, in time for the dismissal of the students.
Both robbers were dead on the spot. Their bodies were brought to RS Funeral in the said village.
Ebreo said four civilians were also caught in the crossfire, which resulted in the death of one of them.
Police recovered from the scene two .38 caliber revolvers and a motorcycle owned by the two suspects, the stolen money amounting to P39,460, a cellular phone owned by one of the suspects, six fired bullets of .9mm caliber, 15 fired bullets of an M16 rifle, and two slugs.
Ebreo said they will still check if the suspects are members of an organized group.
Trigue also said they will look into the possibility that these suspects were behind some robbery and hold-up incidents in Bago City.
Connivance
Meanwhile, Ebreo said they have found out that Cuelo, one of the supposed victims and driver, was reportedly involved in the incident after police discovered his conversation with the suspects through text messages.
“The text messages from the recovered cellular phone from one of the suspects and Cuelo's phone matched.
He even admitted to the authorities his connivance with them, Ebreo said.
He is now under the custody of Bago City Police Station for the filing of robbery charges and for further investigation. He refused a media interview.
Grief
Teofila Ortiz, 67, wife of Delfin, went to Police Station 9 to inform the police that she would want her husband to be subjected for an autopsy to determine who or which firearm hit him.
The grieving wife said it was painful for her when she learned about the death of her husband.
She recalled that her husband was just sitting on his pedicab when he was caught in the crossfire.
“Maayo lang gid kay ang apat namun ka tuig nga apo nga baye nga gina sabak niya pa sa sikad, gin pa una nya puli. Galing kay ngaa amu gid to ya ang natabo sa iya? (Good thing that he told our four-year-old granddaughter to go home, but why did this happen to him?), Ortiz said.
The Ortiz couple has five children and 21 grandchildren.
Ebreo said: “We are saddened about what happened but the police really tried not to cause any harm to the civilians, however, because of the situation, they also need to defend themselves from the imminent danger.”
He also asked forgiveness for what happened, despite not knowing yet whose firearms really hit the civilians. He said the police will provide assistance to the wounded victims.
Commend
Despite what happened, Ebreo still commended the policemen for their quick response.
Ebreo said results of the autopsy can determine if there was an “overkill.” But, he firmly believed that all Swat members only did their jobs, despite the hold-up incident was outside of their jurisdiction.
It is normal for police to respond to any incident even if it's not under their jurisdiction, Ebreo said.
Ebreo said all the responding Swat members and the suspects will be subjected for paraffin test.
Their firearms were also surrendered for ballistic examination to determine who hit the civilians.
Ebreo said they will conduct a separate investigation on the incident while the Internal Affairs Service will also conduct a motu proprio investigation.
Traffic
Meanwhile, a temporary road closure starting from the school towards Bago City caused traffic congestion to motorists after the police cordoned the area where the two suspects were killed in a shootout.
Police occupied the two lanes starting from the high school towards Bago City while the Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) was processing the crime scene.
The temporary road closure lasted for more than an hour.