Suspect in gunfight with cops at Misamis checkpoint captured

LIBERTAD, MISAMIS ORIENTAL—-One of four suspects in a clash last Monday with police in this town has been caught hiding among the bushes in a hilly part of the town.

Lt. Col. Mardy Hortillosa, regional police spokesperson, said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday in a continuing pursuit operation by police and soldiers.

Hortillosa did not release the name of the suspect, the second to fall after the clash last Monday.

Civilians who witnessed the arrest and results of interrogation revealed the suspect’s name as Micky Abellana, 29, of Tangub City also in Misamis Occidental.

Abellana was among five men aboard a sedan from Cagayan de Oro City that was flagged down at a checkpoint here.

The driver, Jephone Fabriga Tinamisan of Ozamiz City, got out of the vehicle and stood before policemen. Seconds later, four other occupants of the car got out and started shooting policemen, triggering a gunfight.

The four ran to a bridge and jumped into a dried up river to escape.

The clash claimed the life of one policeman and wounded another. Tinamisan, the car driver, was also killed.

On Tuesday, one of the four, Richard Perez alias Richard Manda of Lapu-Lapu City, was found hiding among the bushes just several meters from the bridge.

According to Initao police chief Capt. Dino Magno, Abellana was caught in a bushy hill about 5 kilometers from the site of the gunfight.

Abellana had no gunshot wound but had bruises all over the body, said Magno. He added that Abellana could have suffered the bruises when he jumped off the bridge. “He is very dirty and looks very hungry,” said Magno.

Abellana is now detained at the Libertad police station.

Edited by TSB