2 robbers killed in shootout with Novaliches cops – police

MANILA — Two of three robbery suspects, said to be fresh off a heist, were shot dead by responding police in Novaliches, Quezon City, on Monday morning.

A policeman and a bystander were shot and injured in the encounter, police said.

Chief Insp. Leo Escat, officer-in-charge of the Novaliches police station, said a shootout broke out between the robbers and mobile police patrollers when the cops chanced upon the robbers preying on victim Dominador Gorgonio Jr. in front of a bakery along Susano Road in Barangay Novaliches Proper at 10:40 a.m.

Gorgonio, a worker at the Marco Gennis Supermarket on Ramirez Street in the same barangay (village), was walking to the nearby China Bank branch along Quirino Highway, carrying a carton box containing P620,000, having just been instructed by his employer Gemma Betita to deposit the money.

The robbers, aboard a motorcycle, had blocked Gorgonio, with one of them grabbing the box, Escat said in his spot report.

Three policemen in a patrol car spotted the commotion, but as they got off the car to confront the the suspects, the latter opened fire, prompting the police to fire back.

Killed in the shootout were two of the suspects.  One was later identified, based on his recovered wallet, as Jovin Santos, 40, of Tanza, Cavite. His cohort who died from multiple gunshot wounds was unidentified as of this posting.

The other suspect was able to flee on foot with the money, police said.

One of the responding policemen, PO1 Israel Martinez, was wounded on the left arm and neck, and remains confined at the Chinese General Hospital. A bystander was also hit by a stray bullet on his right arm.

Recovered from the scene were two .45-caliber pistols, three magazines, Santos’ wallet, a backpack with a bonnet and long sleeves, and the motorcycle (6315-QE) the suspects had used.

Follow-up operations have been going on to capture the escaped robber, and recover the money, said Chief Supt. Edgardo Tinio, director of the Quezon City Police Distric.  He likewise commended the bravery of the three policemen who caught the robbers.  SFM