Manila jail inmate killed in escape try

A teenager detained at the Manila City Jail (MCJ) was killed when he attempted to escape on Tuesday night.

Fritz Agipo, an 18-year-old resident of Pandacan, Manila, who was doing time for theft, was shot after he climbed up the prison wall and tried to jump down from the roof.

Senior Jail Officer 3 Agapito Gacuan, the desk officer of the MCJ Second Shift Custodial Security Unit, fired the shot which hit Agipo in the back and killed him.

Agipo’s fellow inmates told the police that he had tried to escape at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday. One of them, Eduardo Flores, 43, was quoted in police reports as saying that he spotted Agipo climbing the roof of the facility and making his way toward the perimeter wall.

Flores added that he tried to dissuade the victim from escaping but the latter did not listen to him.

A report submitted by case investigator PO2 Roderick Pacilan of the Manila Police District homicide section said that another prisoner, Joey Gaitus, told the cell leader, Donato Castañeda, that the victim was trying to escape.

Castañeda said that he immediately rushed toward the perimeter wall where he heard a gunshot and someone yelling, “Dapa, dapa (Get down, get down)!” It turned out to be Gacuan.

Agipo, however, continued his attempt to escape, jumping onto the roofs of shanties beside the MCJ infirmary, prompting Gacuan to fire a second shot, which hit Agipo in the back.

He was taken down and rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

Gacuan’s service firearm has been submitted to the MPD Crime Laboratory for forensic examination, Pacilan said.