Manila policemen found themselves scrambling into action yesterday after a group of Camp Crame-based officers and suspected car thieves shot it out near the headquarters of the Western Police District (WPD) on United Nations Avenue in Manila.
No less then WPD chief Senior Superintendent Pedro Bulaong rushed to the scene of the encounter on Teresa Street at about 12 p.m. The clash left an unidentified suspect dead and a member of Task Force Limbas of the Philippine National Police-Traffic Management Group (PNP-TMG) wounded.
"We thought we were being attacked. We were busy monitoring the various rallies in the city when we heard the shooting," Bulaong said.
According to WPD homicide detective Steve Casimirio, a prowl car of Task Force Limbas with four policemen on board, spotted a white Mitsubishi Lancer car sporting two different license plates near Plaza Dilao along Quirino Avenue in Paco, Manila.
The suspects’ car sported the license plate UMK-685 on its front, while its back sported an improvised license plate (HH-XH 1311)
Thinking that the vehicle was stolen, the TMG prowl car chased the suspects’ heavily tinted car which sped towards United Nations Avenue.
The suspects then entered a one-way street as they tried to make a getaway to the Ayala Bridge. It was at this point that Police Officer 3 Reynaldo Banzon of the WPD-Traffic Enforcement Group Motorcycle Unit joined the chase.
Casimiro said the suspects made the mistake of entering Teresa Street, which lead to a dead end. Sensing that they were already cornered, the suspects opened fire with pistols.
When the smoke cleared, one of the unidentified suspects was shot in the right shoulder. He died while being rushed to the Ospital ng Maynila.
Wounded in the encounter was Senior Inspector Ernesto Ecko, 35, who was shot in the mouth.
Casimiro said Ecko was one of the four TMG policemen who chased the suspects aboard their prowl car.
In Caloocan City, a security guard was killed the other night when he tried to foil a robbery attempt at a video store.
Benico Sibungan, 35, detailed at a Video City store in Phase 8, Bagong Silang, was shot three times after being beaten to the draw by the still unidentified suspect who tried to disarm him. The suspect pretended to be customer and announced a holdup at 10:30 p.m. – With Jerry Botial