Cop-killer on the run cornered Suspect killed in gunfight at police checkpoint

The suspect in the fatal shooting of a policeman and wounding of three others in Tagbilaran City, Bohol was killed after he was cornered in a police checkpoint in Guindulman town Saturday night.

Two policemen were wounded in the ensuing gunfight when Artemio Tare Jr., 31 allegedly shot them when they boarded a Ceres-Southern Star bus at around 9:30 p.m. at the national highway in barangay Tabajan.

Tare was killed on the spot after P01 Geremias Platino and P01 Joel Bayron returned fire.

P02 Cullen Hibaya, one of the eight policemen from the Guindulman Police Station who manned the checkpoint, said they were ordered by the Bohol Provincial Police Office to set up a checkpoint from 9 p.m. to midnight.

They were not told that Tare, the suspect in the killing of PO1 Michael June Ejoc, was in a bus that was passing through the area from Tagbilaran.

Hibaya said it was Platino who boarded the bus first followed by Bayron and him.

Hibaya said they were checking on the passengers when Platino asked one of the male passengers seated near the rear to take off his cap.

But instead of complying with the order, the man pulled out a gun and started firing.

Platino was hit in the right side of his abdomen while Bayron was shot in the right leg.

The wounded policemen however, managed to return fire and fatally hit the suspect.

Hibaya said he also drew his gun and fired away, but he was not sure if he hit anything.

Panic-stricken passengers jumped off the bus, but no one was hurt.

The suspect was taken to a funeral parlor while Platino and Bayron were brought to the Ramiro Hospital in Tagbilaran City. The suspect’s mother went to the funeral parlor to identify and claim his remains, police said.

Doctors operated on Platino but the slug remains inside his abdomen. Doctors said another surgery will be performed to take the slug out after six months.

Hibaya said Tare had three guns — .357 cal. revolver which he used in the gunfight, a .45 cal. pistol tucked in his waist and a .22 cal. revolver in his pant pocket.

Police also found three identification cards, including an I.D. card issued by the alumni association of a Tagbilaran-based university, and two sachets suspected to contain shabu.

Tare was identified as the gunman who shot at the police raiding team that attempted to mount a drug raid in barangay Poblacion 1 in Tagbilaran City Friday morning.

Wounded in the incident were: PO2 Judito Jasmin, PO1 Rinan Tagotongan, and PO1 Carlito Gamalo, all from the Bohol Provincial Intelligence Branch.