Cop caught in street fight shoots Cavite teen ‘in defense’

SAN PEDRO CITY — A 15-year-old was shot and killed by a police officer who claimed he was only out to break up a street fight in Dasmariñas City in Cavite province on Saturday, report said Sunday.

The policeman Staff Sgt. Elmer Belaro, 37, who assigned at the police intelligence unit in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, was still charged with homicide, despite his claims that he only acted in defense, Cavite police chief Col. Marlon Santos said in a phone interview Sunday.

“For one, because he was carrying a gun even when not on an official mission,” Santos said.

According to the police report, Belaro was off duty and was playing basketball with his friends in Barangay (village) Paliparan 3 when a fight broke out between two groups of young men in that area around 5 p.m.

Belaro claimed he tried to de-escalate the situation, but the victim, Darwin Pintang, “aimed his gun and fired” at the police officer, Santos said.

The teen’s weapon turned out to be an improvised shotgun.

Pintang missed but Belaro reacted by shooting him in the chest, killing him immediately.

Local police arrived shortly after and arrested Pintang’s 14-year-old companion, while the others involved in the street fight fled.

Police said they also recovered an improvised shotgun from the victim’s companion.