A jail officer shot dead the jail warden of the Toledo City Detention and Rehabilitation Center in an attack that may have been triggered by the victim’s refusal to grant the suspect’s request for a leave of absence.
JO3 Donald Isidore Ramas surrendered to the police after the incident.
Ramas also shot and wounded JO2 Maria Melamed Abella, reportedly the jail’s administrative officer, said SP04 Carmelito Hornales of the Toledo City Police Station.
The attack happened at 1:40 p.m. yesterday.
Police said the victim, Jail Insp. Anacleto Dusaran, 31, was sitting on a wooden bench near the entrance of the facility when Ramas arrived and shot Dusaran’s both legs.
A wounded Dusaran tried to run.
Ramas chased Dusaran and finished him off by shooting him in the head.
Police said Ramas then turned to Abella and shot her in the chest and back.
Dusaran didn’t have his service firearm with him during the incident, police said.
Dusaran, a native of Iloilo and a graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), was declared dead when he and Abella were brought to the Toledo City District Hospital.
Abella was transferred to the South General Hospital in Naga City for further treatment.
After the attack, Ramas drove to the Toledo City Police Station and surrendered.
“Wa ko motuo dayon kay yano ra man kaayo siyang miadto nako sa lamesa unya miingon nga napusilan niya iyang labaw. Nagtuo ko nga nag-komedya ra (I didn’t believe right away because he was calm when he went to my table and told me that he had shot his superior. I thought he was just joking),” SP04 Carmelito Hornales said.
The city jail is located in Landahan, a mountain barangay in Toledo City which is about four or five kilometers from the police station.
Hornales, who was the desk officer at the time, said he finally realized that Ramas was telling the truth when the jail officer surrendered his 9mm caliber pistol, three magazines and 23 bullets.
JO2 Richard Caballero told police that Ramas went to see Dusaran in the morning and asked permission to take a leave of absence so he could process documents needed for his schooling.
Dusaran needed additional credits from schooling to qualify for a promotion.
Caballero said Dusaran didn’t grant the leave and even reprimanded Ramas.
Officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas (BJMP- 7) headed by Supt. Efren Nemeño went to Toledo City to investigate.
Toledo City jail officials refused to issue a statement, saying the investigation was still on going./WITH CORRESPONDENT CHRISTINE EMILY L. PANTALEON