2 carjack suspects slain in Quezon City shootout

MANILA, Philippines - Two alleged carjackers who were spotted driving a stolen vehicle were killed in a running gunbattle in Quezon City at past midnight yesterday.

The chase started in Fairview and ran for about a kilometer until operatives of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) eventually cornered the two suspects along Mindanao Avenue Extension.

Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr., head of the QCPD’s District Police Intelligence Operation Unit, said they believe the suspects – at the time they were spotted in the Manggahan area in Fairview – could have been on their way to deliver the stolen vehicle to a fence in Bulacan.

Pedrozo said the Honda City (VCC-728) owned by Dr. Angelito Alava was forcibly taken from his driver by three armed men in front of a convenience store along Shorthorn street in Barangay Bahay Toro at around 12:40 a.m. yesterday.

After a report was filed with the QCPD-Station 3, an alarm was immediately flashed to other police units about the “hot car.”

Less than an hour later, anti-carjacking operatives tried to flag down the driver of the stolen vehicle, but the suspects sped away and engaged the lawmen in a running gunbattle.

Pedrozo said the car crashed into a concrete wall along Mindanao Avenue Extension and the suspects were killed as they tried to run away while shooting at the policemen.

Recovered from the still unidentified slain suspects were a .38 caliber revolver and a .357 caliber handgun.

The third carjacking suspect remains at large.