4 killed as cops foil hijacking attempt

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Four suspected hijackers were killed in what police said was a shootout with the authorities after they alleged commandeered a van loaded with cigarettes in Silang, Cavite, on Friday.

The shootout took place at noon inside Josephine Subdivision in Barangay Luksuhin, according to Senior Superintendent Joselito Esquivel, Cavite’s provincial police director.

The police, Esquivel said in a text message, earlier received a report from a concerned resident that a group of five armed men had comandeered an aluminum van loaded with cigarettes in Barangay Maguyam in Silang around 10:30 a.m.

He said this prompted the police to set up checkpoints until the hijacked vehicle was traced two hours later parked on a road in Josephine Subdivision.

The police tried to make an arrest but were fired upon by the hijackers, resulting in the death of four still unindentified suspects, Esquivel said.

One of the suspects was able to escape while one of the responding policemen, PO1 Ruben Cruzado, was hit in the left arm and left leg, he said.

Esquivel said the van’s driver and two helpers were rescued after they were found by the police bound with duct tape inside the van.

The police recovered three firearms and a white Toyota Avanza vehicle which the suspects used when they hijacked the van.