Cop shot dead; shooter wounded

A POLICE officer was shot dead by an alleged armed motorist shortly before noon on Sunday in Kapuso-an, Poblacion, Sibonga town.

P02 Jason Yap of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Group (RAID-SOTG) 7 and a resident of Poblacion, Argao died on the spot after he was hit in the face.

P03 Eduardo Semilla, desk officer of the Sibonga Police Station, said Yap was still brought to the hospital in Carcar City, where doctors declared him dead.

The suspect, Ritchie Mendoza Barcenas, 30, a resident of Ocaña, Carcar City, was also shot by responding members of the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB).

Barcenas was reportedly hit in the stomach and is currently confined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

P03 Semilla said he could not give clear details on the incident as investigators were still conducting investigation as of last night.

But Semilla said initial report from the team of investigators showed that Yap was driving his black Honda Civic (GLE 688) from Cebu City and he was following the white Mitsubishi Strada Sports Edition YGG 183 driven by Barcenas who had his live-in partner Jay Ann Pandivas dela Cerna, 23, and their daughter Sabina Barcenas, 4, as his passengers.

Semilla said Yap blocked the vehicle of Barcenas but he was shot instead. Semilla could not give more details but added at least two guns were found inside the vehicle of Barcenas.

A police source who asked not to be named said Yap was already going home to Argao after his duty at RAID-SOTG, but while on his way, he got an information about the black Mitsubishi Strada that allegedly carried guns.

The source said Yap coordinated with RPSB personnel and blocked the vehicle. When he disembarked from his vehicle, he was shot in the face. It was also at that time that RPSB men arrived and shot Barcenas in the stomach.