Manila cops kill 9th suspected robber in less than a month

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Police District (MPD) police officers killed a suspected robber in an alleged shootout in Quiapo, Manila yesterday, raising to nine the number of robbery suspects killed in the district in less than a month.

A team from the Barbosa Police Community Precinct (PCP) – composed of Senior Inspector Armando Macaraeg, PO2 Wilfredo Lasic, PO1 Aljimar Ammar, PO1 Roldan Peralta and PO1 Mark Jayson Paez – were on patrol when they spotted an unidentified man acting suspiciously in a dimly lit portion of Nepomuceno street in front of the National Teachers College at around 4:30 a.m. 

According to initial reports, the lawmen carefully approached the man, who tried to walk away from them. As the group tailed the suspect, the latter pulled out a revolver.

Police officers said a shootout ensued, resulting in the death of the unidentified man, who was described as between 30 and 35 years old, about 5’6” tall, with a tattoo bearing the word “Sputnik” on his back.

Investigators recovered a .38 caliber revolver, two bullets and a spent shell beside the suspect’s body.

Yesterday’s shootout is the second incident in a week wherein police officers from the Barbosa PCP were involved in the death of a suspected robber.

The body of a suspected robber who allegedly grabbed the gun of a police officer Wednesday night was fished out from the Pasig River in Binondo, Manila Saturday.