Police officer kills man mistaken for robber

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — After celebrating his daughter’s seventh birthday with his family in Santa Rita town, Pampanga province, on Saturday, Federico “Tek” Pineda accompanied his uncle home.

He did not return that night.

Pineda, a 29-year-old construction worker and father of two, was shot dead by Cpl. Eframe Ramirez, a police officer who was pursuing a robbery-holdup suspect.

The police officer was placed in the custody of his superiors while the killing was undergoing investigation and he had surrendered his firearm, said Capt. Renemer Cruz, municipal police chief.

White undershirt

Ramirez was reportedly chasing a suspect in the robbery and stabbing of a couple who ran a computer shop at Sunny Side Subdivision in San Matias village.

Pineda’s relatives claimed the killing was a clear case of mistaken identity.

His sister, Michelle Pagauisan, said Pineda was wearing a white undershirt and riding a motorcycle when he was shot. The suspect was also wearing a white undershirt and was riding on the same route as Pineda, according to other relatives, citing video footage.

“My brother was not used to wearing a face mask. He preferred wearing a shirt over his face,” Pagauisan said.

She said Pineda was confronted and later chased by policemen who fired at him. Her brother was shot in the back and fell when he reached the doorstep of a relative’s house.

The suspect, later identified as Joven Basera, was arrested at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Col. Arnold Thomas, police director of Ibay town, Pampanga, said investigators would look into the shooting.