by Gemi Formaran TAYABAS City - Two suspected armed robbers were killed after they engaged in a clash with responding policemen in Bgy. Mal...
TAYABAS City - Two suspected armed robbers were killed after they engaged in a clash with responding policemen in Bgy. Malao-a, here, minutes after midnight yesterday.
Quezon police director Senior Supt. Osmundo de Guzman said identities of the slain suspects are still being verified by probers.
Prior to the incident, De Guzman said Jayson Palambiano, 22, of Bgy. San Diego, Zone 1; Cynthia Calabano, 20, of Bgy. Opias and Renee Rose May Balagtas, 21, of Bgy. Camaysa, all in this city, sought assistance from Ta-yabas City Police Station under Supt. Mark Joseph Laygo, the newly-installed city police director, at 12:15 a.m. yesterday.
“The victims told police that their motorcycle and bags containing personal belongings, including mobile phones and cash, were forcibly taken at gunpoint by the suspects wearing bonnets at said village at 11:45 p.m. while they were on their way home,” said De Guzman.
In response, De Guzman said the station immediately alerted all police units in the adjacent towns of Lucban and Sariaya and the city of Lucena. He said Intelligence operatives of the station who quickly chased the fleeing suspects spotted them along the provincial road in Bgy. Malao-a.
De Guzman said while the policemen were approaching, the suspects, armed with revolvers, immediately opened fire, triggering a gunbattle with the lawmen. He said the outnumbered suspects suffered gunshot wounds and died on the spot.
A Scene of the Crime Operatives team, which processed the crime scene, recovered all the stolen items, including a Yamaha Novo motorcycle, two home- made cal. .38 revolvers, and 14 small plastic sachets of suspected shabu. De Guzman said the slain suspects belong to the dreaded “Buriko Group”.
