Cop, watchman shot dead at QC checkpoint

A policeman and a barangay tanod were killed by suspected robbers at a checkpoint in Quezon City before dawn yesterday.

Police Officer 3 Roberto Lantajo and Romeo Guiang both died of gunshot wounds upon arrival at the General Malvar Hospital, where they were rushed following the attack along Zuzuaregui Street in Barangay Old Balara at around 2 a.m.

Initial investigation showed that Lantajo and Guiang were patrolling the area in a police vehicle when they spotted two suspicious-looking men riding a motorcycle that did not have a license plate.

Lantajo and Guiang ordered the suspects to pull over for inspection as part of police’s intensified anti-criminality campaign.

Senior Police Officer 1 Mario Toriano, of the Quezon City Police District criminal investigation unit, said one of the suspects made Lantajo and Guiang believe he was looking for the motorcycle’s documents, then drew a gun and shot the victims several times before escaping.

The police said they will hunt down the suspects and determine if they were in any way connected to the alleged robbers killed in a shootout at the nearby Barangay Mangahan last Sept. 19.

Four suspected robbers – identified as Dominic Torres, 43; Bernard Salibio, 29; Bernard Roquero, 31; and Wilbert Ricafort, all residents of Bulacan – were shot dead by Quezon City’s anti-carjacking police officers after they evaded a police checkpoint along Commonwealth Avenue before midnight last Saturday.

Four other suspects riding two motorcycles in tandem were able to escape during the shootout.