BATANGAS CITY – One of the three prisoners who escaped from prison in Balayan town of Batangas early this morning was killed in a shootout with pursuing policemen Saturday afternoon.
Killed was Ajie Mendoza, 19, who was pinpointed to be the prisoner who shot and killed jailguard Senior Jail Officer 1 Leonardo De Castro and seriously wounded Senior Police Officer 3 Roderick Reyes of the Balayan police when he and two other detainees escaped from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) jail past 2 a.m. Saturday.
READ: Jail guard dies, police officer wounded in Batangas jailbreak
Senior Superintendent Arcadio Ronquillo, Batangas police director, said another policeman, Police Officer 1 Arnel Abellera, was hit on the face during the firefight to recapture Mendoza in Barangay Ermita, also a village in Balayan. Abellera was in critical condition, said Ronquillo.
Another escapee, Marvin Ceralbo, 22, was arrested also this afternoon in the nearby Nasugbu town, also in Batangas, added Ronquillo.
Still at large was Jessie Pega, 29, who like Ceralbo, has pending illegal drug case. Mendoza is facing a car theft case, said Chief Inspector Salvador Solana, the town police chief.
The three escapees cut off the steel bars of their cell using a saw and had gotten past the first layer of security when they sneaked behind and overpowered De Castro, who was then the guard on duty in the second steel bar enclosure. Mendoza, who had taken possession of De Castro’s service firearm, shot the jail guard in the head and ordered at gunpoint another guard, Jail Officer 1 Pilita Colocar, to open the padlock in the final enclosure.
After the steel door was opened, the three prisoners dashed out of the prison building. Just then, Reyes, an investigator of the Balayan police, was also heading towards them to investigate the commotion he heard at the prison facility, which was located just at the back of the police station.
The escaping detainees saw Reyes and immediately fired several shots at the policeman, hitting him in the different parts of his body.
Responding policemen rushed De Castro and Reyes to the Madonna General Hospital at the town proper but the jailguard was declared dead when he reached the hospital. Reyes, on the other hand, remained in critical condition.
Balayan’s pursuing policemen were able to track Mendoza before he was also able to leave town but he resisted arrest and fought it out with the policemen before he was shot dead sometime around 3:20 p.m., said Ronquillo.