Suspect, ex-cop killed, 4 hurt in blast at Davao del Sur police station

STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur, Philippines—At least two persons, including a retired policeman, were killed while four others were wounded in a grenade explosion inside the police station here around 11 a.m. on Thursday.

A crew from a Davao City-based TV station had barely left the police station when a grenade exploded.

Insp. Jamila Grace de Castro, Sta. Cruz police chief, said a deranged man, identified as a Rey Salang, had earlier been arrested after commandeering a bus in Barangay Zone 4 here.

He was found to be in possession of four grenades and a .45-cal. pistol.

Unknown to those who had arrested him, he still had another grenade hidden under his crotch, De Castro said.

When Salang, reportedly a former soldier, was whisked into a vacant cell inside the police station, he pulled out the hidden grenade and threatened to set it off.

De Castro said Salang demanded that he be released from detention or he would set the explosive off.

At this juncture, she said, police investigators decided to seek the help of retired police officer David Bacun, a former classmate of the suspect.

Bacun, she said, talked to the suspect—who wore full military uniform—into handing him over the explosive.

De Castro said they thought that Salang had agreed to do what was asked of him when he pretended to hand the explosive to Bacun. But then he tossed it instead and it exploded.

Bacun was injured and later died at a hospital in Digos City.

Another retired police officer, Noeh Casas, who also helped in the negotiations, was injured—along with three other policemen.

Other police officers then fired at Salang and eventually killed him, De Castro said.

Bonna Pamplona, a reporter of ABS-CBN Davao, said she and her crew had barely left the building when the explosion took place.

She said they had just interviewed De Castro over the arrest of Salang.

“I guess God gave us our second lives,” Pamplona, who was still visibly shaken, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Senior Supt. Michael John Dubria, the Davao del Sur police director, said he had ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to determine if there was any lapse by the local police in handling Salang.

“The incident was regrettable and saddening but we have to investigate to determine if it was handled properly. Why it had to end this way,” he said.

Asked to confirm reports that Salang was a soldier, Dubria said he was told the suspect was not a member of any military unit.

Lt. Col. Apollo Lamaton Jr., commander of the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion here, said they double-checked the information but there was no record of Salang found in any military unit.

“He was never a soldier,” Lamaton said.

He said they were also investigating how Salang managed to acquire explosives, a handgun, and a military uniform.