Slain cop's missing gun found in killer

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Investigators recovered the missing pistol of slain Inspector Tongan Namla from one of his three killers shot dead by villagers Saturday night in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in the province.

Namla was killed in an ambush on March 28, 2014.

Inspector Datu Tulon Pinguiaman, chief of the Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police, said the pistol’s serial number matched with Namla's missing handgun.

Namla's firearm was taken away by his attackers after they shot him dead while on his way home from an eight-hour duty in Kabuntalan town, also in Maguindanao.

Namla was riding his motorcycle en route to Tamontaka District in Datu Odin Sinsuat when the suspects flagged him down at Barangay Dulangan in the northwest of the same town, and killed him using caliber .45 pistols.

Namla's three ambushers- Ibrahim Bansuan, Dunsal Koht, and a certain Marko- were killed in a shootout with off duty policemen and neighbors in an encounter near Namla’s house Saturday night, more than two months after the ambush.   

The slain suspects reportedly arrived at the house of Namla, looking for their relative named Datu Roy, who earlier had a dialogue with elders of the slain officer, where he pointed to them as the culprits behind the March 28 ambush.

As relatives of Namla arrived at the scene to confront them, the suspects pulled out guns tucked in their waist, provoking a firefight.

Namla’s armed relatives and their neighbors, who are members of the Philippine National Police, felled the three gunmen one after another in a brief exchange of gunfire.