Two men were killed while another one was wounded after they allegedly eluded a checkpoint and engaged the police in a shootout in Cebu City early morning yesterday.
Killed was Denmark Rivera of barangay Casili, Mandaue City. The other fatality was identified only as a certain Sadam.
Injured was Joseph Cueva, 26, a resident of barangay Casili, Mandaue City.
Cueva was on a separate motorcycle during the incident, police said.
Senior Supt. Noli Romana, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said a shootout broke out when the three men fired shots at the pursuing policemen.
But in an interview, Cueva denied that there was a shootout.
He said they were un armed during the incident.
Cueva said he and two fatalities were cousins, who, like him, were habal-habal drivers.
Romana said operatives of the City Intelligence Branch and Fuente Police Station manning a checkpoint on N. Bacalso Avenue spotted the three men past 1 a.m.
Police said the three made a U-turn and drove toward the South Road Properties in barangay Mambaling.
Police gave chase where a shootout allegedly took place.
Cueva was eventually arrested when he was hit in the left knee in sitio Jai Alai.
The chase reached the Sugbo grounds in the SRP where Sadam and Rivera were killed.
Romana said among the seized items included assorted clothes, a false key, bonnets, a .38 revolver, a .22 magnum revolver, and a .357 revolver.
Insp. Gomersendo Mandawe, deputy chief of CIB, said their counterparts at the Mandaue City Police Office, confirmed that Rivera and Sadam had criminal records.
Cueva, who was brought to the CCPO headquarters for a paraffin test yesterday, denied that they were involved in any crime.
Cueva said they were on their way home at the time after visiting the wake of a relative in barangay Labangon.
He said they avoided the checkpoint because the motorcycle he drove was unregistered and his cousins didn’t have a driver’s license.
He said he was surprised when police fired shots at them.