QCPD station deputy chief shot dead in restaurant

MANILA, Philippines - A police major assigned with the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) was gunned down at a restaurant in North Fairview Monday night.

Chief Inspector Michael Coo, 38, deputy commander of the QCPD-Station 2, died of three gunshot wounds in the back and another one in his chest.

Superintendent Lino Banaag, head of the QCPD-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), said at least two assailants were involved in the attack – a gunman and another one who drove a black motorcycle used as getaway vehicle. A red Toyota Innova was also reported to have sped away from the scene.

At the time of the killing, Coo was unarmed since he had left behind his .45 caliber service firearm inside his car as he entered the restaurant.

No one at the moment has given the police the license plates of the vehicle and the description of Coo’s killers.

Banaag said Coo was to meet somebody at the restaurant that night after receiving a text message. After parking his black Honda Civic outside, Coo asked the waiters at the front desk of the restaurant if it was the establishment he was looking for.

But even before the waiters could respond, a man approached Coo from behind and shot him. After Coo fell to the ground, the man shot him in the chest to ensure his death, indicating that the gunman was a hired killer, said QCPD Intelligence Division head Superintendent Nestor Abalos.

Coo’s immediate superior, QCPD-Station 2 commander Superintendent Raymundo Equibal, said the victim left their unit’s Christmas party that night. However, Equibal does not know whom Coo was supposed to meet at the restaurant.

Banaag also said the victim’s cellular phone, which should contain the text message of the person who Coo was supposed to be meeting that night, is missing. He said they have yet to determine whether the attack was personal or something related to Coo’s police work.

A female friend of the victim appeared at the QCPD-CIDU yesterday afternoon and said Coo had gambling debts in the past – amounting to hundreds of thousands of pesos – but all of these, she said, had already been paid and settled. In an interview, she said she was not aware of any threat to Coo’s life prior to the killing.

Coo’s business partner in his surplus and money-lending business also claimed she was not aware of any business rivalry.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego said full burial honors will be rendered to Coo, who left behind three young sons who live with his mother in Bacolod City.

“The QCPD will leave no stone unturned to solve this dastardly, cold-blooded murder of a dedicated police officer and rapidly bring the murderers to justice,” San Diego said.