Police captain, 2 other cops hurt in Lanao del Sur gunfight

COTABATO CITY – A police captain and two of his subordinates were injured in a shootout with a murder suspect in Lanao del Sur before dawn on Sunday.

Col. Madzgani Mukaram, chief of the Lanao del Sur Police Provincial Office, said the incident happened when Capt. Karl Vincent Centinaje and the other police officers were about to serve a warrant of arrest for murder on Meranda K. Bagnas, a 45-year-old farmer and a resident of Barangay Daguan in Kapatagan town of Lanao del Sur.

The officers arrived at the house of the farmer at around 2 a.m. arrival to serve the arrest warrant, which was issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 12 in Malabang town.

Mukaram said police intelligence confirmed the presence of Bagnas in the village on Saturday night, prompting them, along with some members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 5, to go to the area.

But as the team approached, an undetermined number of gunmen led by Bagnas opened fire on the government forces, triggering a 20-minute firefight.

Aside from Centinaje, Cpl. Morsed Maliga and Pat. Abdul Khamied Unda — both members of the Kapatagan Municipal Police Station — were also hurt.

It was uncertain if the gunmen, who all escaped the crime scene, had suffered any injuries.

Mukaram said all the wounded police officers were now in stable condition at a hospital in Malabang.

/atm