7 gunmen ambush 4 cops, kill 2 in South Cotabato

KORONADAL CITY—Two police officers were killed in an ambush by still unidentified gunmen in the town of Polomolok, South Cotabato province on Wednesday (April 29).

Lt. Col. Lino Capellan, regional police spokesperson, said the policemen—Cpl Witzel Russ Betantos and Patrolman Bryan Costello—didn’t survive multiple gunshot wounds and died in a hospital.

The officers, who report to the Polomolok police force, were with two other policemen when they were attacked past 2 p.m. at the village of Koronadal Proper.

All four police officers were riding motorcycles.

Citing witnesses’ accounts, Capellan said at least seven men waited in ambush for the policemen then opened fire, hitting Betantos and Costello.

The other two officers, who were riding in the back of the motorcycles, returned fire and forced the attackers to “back off,” Capellan said.

Brig. Gen. Alfred Corpus, police regional director, said the attackers could be members of drug syndicates operating in the town.

Police are now hunting the suspects.

Edited by TSB