3 rob suspects killed in Cavite

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines–Three suspected robbers that targeted a Western Union branch in Dasmariñas City in Cavite were killed in a shootout with a group of policemen early Thursday.

Dasmariñas police chief Superintendent Ulysses Cruz, in a phone interview, said the shootout occurred before 7 a.m. just outside of the Western Union branch in Barangay (village) Luzviminda II of the city.

He said a group of about 15 undercover policemen had positioned themselves at the premises of the Western Union branch after receiving an intelligence report that the robbers planned to pull off a heist at the branch just before the remittance center opened for the day.

“While waiting, the (three) suspects must have felt they were being watched. They waited for another 30 minutes before they made their next move,” Cruz said.

He said the suspects suddenly opened fire, prompting the police to retaliate.

Cruz named one of the three slain suspects as a certain Reynaldo Operaña from Caloocan City, based on the ID police recovered from his bag. The police have yet to identify Operaña’s accomplices.