Suspect in QC couple’s slay shot dead by cop

Carl Joseph Alarin Bañanola, the suspect in the killing of octogenarian couple in Quezon City, was arrested on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Photo by CONSUELO MARQUEZ / INQUIRER.net)

A day after his arrest, the suspect in the killing of an octogenarian couple in Quezon City was shot dead inside a police car on Wednesday night.

Police Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, said the death of Carl Joseph Banañola was being investigated.

The policemen involved would be required to submit their firearms for ballistics examination, he added.

On Tuesday, Eleazar and Police Brig. Gen. Joselito Esquivel Jr., Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director, announced the arrest of Banañola, 37, the primary suspect in the killing of Nicolas and Leonora Austria in their house in Novaliches.

At 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday, the suspect was shot by a police station commander on Kalayaan Avenue, right after he underwent inquest proceedings for robbery, homicide and frustrated murder charges in the Quezon City Hall of Justice.

According to a report of Police Lt. Col. Rossel Cejas, Novaliches police station commander, they were on their way back to the QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal when the suspect grimaced in pain.

Banañola asked his police escorts to loosen his handcuffs, but when Police Staff Sergeant Alex Icban removed the restraints, the suspect suddenly grabbed his service firearm. A scuffle broke out and Cejas said he shot the suspect.

The police brought Banañola to East Avenue Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Banañola had admitted that he was under the influence of drugs when he robbed and then killed the Austria couple on Sunday.