Ex-SAF man turned rob gang leader killed in QC

A former police officer suspected of being the leader of a robbery gang was killed in a shootout with intelligence operatives of the Central Police District in Quezon City the other night.

The slain suspect was identified as Joseph "Jojo" Gumba, a resident of Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City and a former member of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police.

Chief Inspector Rodolfo Jaraza, chief of the district police intelligence unit, said Gumba, who has been tagged in a series of robberies along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, was spotted by police intelligence agents near the Philcoa overpass with two men. The group was apparently looking for possible victims.

Last week they robbed at gunpoint a certain Romeo Moreno in the same area. The victim lost his cell phone, an expensive watch and P5,000 cash.

As police operatives approached the suspects at around 8 p.m., one of them pulled out a handgun and opened fire at the lawmen.

Jaraza said Gumba was killed on the spot as lawmen fired back. His two unidentified companions fled toward a squatter’s colony in the area.

A Scene of the Crime Operations team recovered a caliber .38 revolver with two empty shells and three live bullets.

CPD director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan earlier reported to Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. that it has stepped up the campaign against street criminals in the city.

Radovan said several robbery groups in various parts of the city had been neutralized by responding beat policemen and intelligence operatives that were following up criminal cases.

Neutralized were gangs operating along Roosevelt, Mindanao and Visayas Avenues, resulting in the killing of at least three gang members.