Firearms seized from the suspects’ car include two KG9 machine pistols, four caliber 45 pistols, and four grenades.
Photo courtesy of Menzie Montes of IFM Cagayan de Oro
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Misamis Oriental—Police have arrested one of the four suspects responsible for the shooting incident that killed a cop and wounded another in Libertad town, Misamis Oriental on Monday night, February 17, 2020.
Police Captain Ram Camilotes, chief of the Libertad town police, said they arrested Richard Perez, who is from Sitio Mahayahay, Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City.
Camilotes said they caught the suspect who got injured when he jumped from a bridge in Barangay Dolong.
Camilotes said they are still looking for three suspects, whom they described as “armed and dangerous”.
A policeman was killed while another police officer was wounded when a group of armed men on board a vehicle fired at a group of policemen manning a checkpoint in this town, which is some 50 kilometers west of Cagayan de Oro City.
The lone fatality was Police Staff Sergeant Ronald Caayupan of the Libertad town police station. The wounded was identified as Staff Sergeant Fernando Maestrado, also of the Libertad Police Station.
Camilotes said a search on the white Mitsubishi Mirage car with plate number plate VOG 805 used by the suspects yielded two KG 9 machine pistols, four caliber .45 pistols, and four grenades.
One of the gunmen was also killed by the companions of the slain police officer in the ensuing shootout.
Camilotes said the remaining policemen engaged the suspects in a five-minute shootout, killing one of them.
He identified the downed suspect as a certain Jephon Pabriga Penangisan, 33 years old, a resident of Ozamis City.
Meanwhile, classes were suspended in the town on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, as police continue the manhunt against the suspects.
Libertad Mayor Reynaldo Uy said he ordered the suspension of classes in the elementary and high school levels to keep students safe as the manhunt continues. /bmjo