Policemen in Quezon City shot and killed on Saturday afternoon a 36-year-old man who refused to surrender and fired upon them after he was accused of stealing a cell phone.
Jojo Soler, a resident of Gawad Kalinga Espiritu Santo Village in Barangay Baesa, died as he was being treated at Quezon City General Hospital for a gunshot wound.
A report from the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit showed the victim was shot at 3 p.m. on Saturday near his house on Canada Street.
Earlier, Police Officer 1 Johnny Boy Banza and another policeman from the city police District Police Security Battalion were in a mobile car and patrolling the stretch of Edsa near Barangay (village) Bahay Toro when Erwin Balagtas flagged them down.
Balagtas claimed that Soler took his cell phone, prompting Banza and the other policeman to ask the complainant to ride with them and help them find the suspected robber. The policemen later chanced upon Soler on Canada Street where he was gambling and Banza tried to take him into custody.
Soler, however, was able to run toward an alley. When the policemen chased him and asked him to surrender, he refused and took out a gun, leading them to shoot him.
The wounded Soler was brought to the nearest hospital but was declared dead by attending doctors at 3:45 p.m.
Recovered from him was a caliber .38 revolver. Jeannette I. Andrade