Cops file case vs 4 armed men in Misamis Oriental shootout

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY –– Police have filed charges against four armed men who figured in a shootout that killed two people, one of them a policeman, in Libertad town, Misamis Oriental Monday night.

Lieutenant Colonel Mardy Hortillosa, regional police spokesperson, said charges of murder, frustrated murder, illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and illegal drugs were filed against four persons on Wednesday.

But except for a certain Richard Perez, who was arrested by pursuing police officers in Barangay Poblacion on Tuesday, all three suspects remained at large.

The shootout started when a police team conducting a checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion, Libertad on Monday night, flagged down a white Mitsubishi Mirage. The four men inside the van fired their guns, triggering an exchange of gunfire with the police.

Killed was Jephone Tinamisan, from Ozamiz City, believed to be the vehicle’s driver and Staff Sergeant Ronald Caayupan of the Libertad police, Hortillosa said.

He said Chief Master Sergeant Fernando Maestrado was also wounded during the shootout.

The four suspects fled from the crime scene on foot.

But the following day, pursuing police officers arrested Perez, a member of the group, in Barangay Poblacion.

Perez suffered fractured bones when he jumped off a bridge trying to escape. He was brought to a hospital for treatment.

Hortillosa said the regional police acted as the complainants against the suspects.

Hortillosa said the police had identified the owner of the vehicle used by the suspects but refused to divulge the identity of the owner, except that he came from Northern Mindanao./lzb