Scene of the Crime Operatives process the area where the shootout happened in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.
CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA
Seven armed men, whom police believed were members of a group involved in illegal drugs, were killed in a shootout on Wednesday against at least 30 police officers in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.
Supt. Mark Gifter Sucalit, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office City Intelligence Branch (CIB) chief, said they also arrested seven others, whom they believed were cohorts of those who died in the shoot-out.
Sucalit said they were withholding the names of the seven arrested since they were still questioning them.
Sucalit said those who were killed in the shootout were Abundio de la Torre Jr., Allan de la Torre, Mohaimen Conda Mauyag, a certain Jovan, Shainoden Dimasimpan, a certain Mantak, and Manuel Pepito, who were all residents of Barangay Pajac.
Sucalit also said that they also recovered illegal drugs in the area.
The CIB chief also said that two of those who were killed were suspects in the killing last Sept. 19 of an Indiana Aerospace University student, Kristian Saldavia, in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.
Sucalit said Shainoden Dimasimpan and Jovan were identified as the shooters of Saldavia who died after suffering gunshot wounds in the body.
Chief Insp. Juan Capacio, Marigondon Police Station chief, said that they had already filed murder cases against the Dimasimpan and Jovan.
According to the initial investigation, Sucalit said that composite teams from the different police forces in Lapu-Lapu City made up of at least 30 police officers were formed to conduct a follow-up operation on the whereabouts of the suspects in the Saldavia killing.
Aside from that, he said that they also were responding to reports of armed persons in the area that they were conducting an operation.
Sucalit said that as they approached the area where a cluster of three houses and two nearby houses in Barangay Pajac, shots were suddenly fired at the police officers, who fired back.
A few minutes later, the seven armed men were killed and no police officers were hurt in the shootout.
Sucalit said they also recovered seven handguns consisting of .45 caliber pistols and .38 caliber revolvers.
He said that they would test the confiscated handguns to see if they were used in other crimes such as the killing of retired police officer Wilfredo Amores.