High-powered guns seized from shooting suspect’s house

HIGH-POWERED firearms were seized from the house of a man whom police tried to arrest for allegedly shooting another man in barangay Tejero, Cebu City yesterday morning.

Harold Dequitos, 24, eluded arrest through the secret door at the back of his house, said Chief Insp. Wildemar Tiu, chief of Waterfront Police Station.

Operatives of the Waterfront police and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team rushed to the man’s house a few minutes after Roel Singson was shot.

Singson identified Dequitos as the assailant. He said he was just walking in an alley in sitio Villagonzalo when Dequitos shot him in the chest and left arm.

Singson was taken to a hospital in Cebu City.

Police responded to the shooting alarm but Dequitos was quick to escape.

Recovered from Dequitos’ house were a baby armalite rifle, a KG9 automatic pistol, a .22 rifle and assorted magazines and ammunition.

A bullet-proof vest was also found in the house.

Tiu said he suspected that Singson went to the area to use illegal drugs but Dequitos suspected him of being a police asset.

Tiu said Dequitos was arrested last year for a murder charge. The case was eventually dissmised.

Dequitos also has a pending case for illegal possession of firearms.

Tiu said further investigation will be made to find out why the man was keeping firearms in his house.