Cop wounded; robber killed

A Manila police official was wounded following a shootout with a suspected jeepney holdupper last Thursday evening in Sampaloc, Manila.

A male passenger was also shot by the suspect, who in turn, was shot dead by a hospital guard who witnessed the shooting incident.

Confined at the Chinese General Hospital was Inspector Jose del Fierro, 53, detailed at the Manila Police District’s Mobile Force Unit. He sustained gunshot wounds in the left arm.

The passenger, Bryan Lee Nuestro, 20, a government employee of Gagalangin, Tondo, is under observation at the Hospital of the Infant Jesus who sustained a bullet wound on the right palm.

Investigations showed the police official was on board a motorcycle when he was sought by victims of a holdup incident.

Responding at the crime scene, Del Fierro was shot at close range while accosting a suspect. The police officer was hit in the left hand, the bullet exiting in the upper arm. Though wounded, Del Fierro wrestled with the suspect for gun possession.

It was at that moment when security guard Renefe Sevilla of St. Jude Hospital noticed the commotion and when he saw the cop being overpowered fired a shot at the suspect.

The suspect, described as between 28 and 30 years old, was declared dead on arrival at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. – Nestor Etolle