Cop shoots hostage taker, saves girl

For almost three hours, a 43-year-old man armed with a bolo held hostage an 11-year-old girl in Daanbantayan town in northern Cebu.

Police shot Cesar Dignos in the chin to save the girl when Dignos started to turn violent and tightened her hold on the girl.

The girl suffered minor injuries in the shoulder and chest.

Police took Dignos and the girl to the hospital.

Investigation showed that the girl who was then playing volleyball with friends decided to go for a swim at the beach. But as she walked at the shoreline, Dignos suddenly grabbed her by the waist and forcibly took her to his hut nearby.

Residents called the police. They later found Dignos inside his hut sitting on a chair with the girl on his lap and a bolo pointed at her neck.

Dignos said that he wanted the people to leave him alone because she was going to offer the girl to the Lord.

Police tried to calm Dignos down and offered him food and money just so she would let go of the girl.

PO3 Israelito Aballe shot Dignos when he started tightening his hold on the girl’s waist, hurting her.  He and PO3  Colombus Mahinay rushed inside the hut, and disarmed Dignos, who was still holding the bolo.

Dignos mother told police that his son had been suffering from a nervous breakdown in the past few weeks./Correspondent Joy Cherry Quito