Cop, 2 others dead in armed clash between arguing groups

INQUIRER FILES

DAGUPAN CITY — A police officer and two unidentified persons died in a shooting incident early morning Sunday, May 11, between two groups in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan.

An initial police report said the fatality was an active member of the Tayug police station, who was going home to Barangay San Pablo in Sta. Maria, when he came upon the armed encounter before the two groups of civilians at 2:30 a.m.

The policeman “attempted to verify the incident, but was fired upon by the other group involved resulting (in) his untimely death,” the report said.

The police are still verifying the identity of the other victims. The report showed that two groups on board different vehicles engaged in a heated argument on the narrow road of Barangay Samon.

“The heated argument resulted in an exchange of gunfire between the two groups that resulted in the death of two individuals,” the report said.

The police were able to apprehend the suspects, one of whom was a retired member of the Philippine Navy, one a resident of Asingan, Pangasinan, and another from Baliwag, Bulacan.

Recovered from the scene were four short firearms and the vehicle used by the suspects.