Four men on motorbikes were killed in separate encounters with members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Wednesday.
The fatalities remained unidentified as of press time, but the QCPD said two of them were killed after pulling off a robbery while the other two were earlier seen shooting at another man.
All four slain men yielded plastic sachets of suspected “shabu,” according to the QCPD-District Special Operations Unit (DSOU).
Shortly before 2 a.m. on Wednesday, a DSOU team in a private vehicle stopped to assist Ernesto Plaza, 40, whom they saw slumped on the pavement next to his fallen motorbike on Don Antonio Street, Barangay Holy Spirit.
The officers initially thought Plaza had an accident, but the man said he had just been robbed at gunpoint by two men who were also on a motorcycle. He said the robbers kicked him, took his sling bag, and fled toward Sampaguita Street.
Another QCPD team went to Sampaguita Street where they saw two men near the corner of Nawasa Lane who matched the description given by Plaza. The suspects were killed after allegedly trading shots with the officers.
Recovered from the pair of suspects were two handguns and a sachet of shabu, as well as Plaza’s bag that contained about P4,700 in cash and pieces of jewelry worth P20,000.
Around 3:30 a.m., DSOU personnel who were on their way to serve an arrest warrant in Barangay Payatas saw two armed assailants shooting at a man on San Miguel Street. Like in the Holy Spirit encounter, the suspects allegedly engaged the police in a firefight until they were both killed.
The gunmen were described to be between 25 and 30 years old, with several tattoos on their bodies. The man they were targeting was unharmed.
Recovered from the slain men were two handguns, a sachet of shabu, and a piece of paper with a list of names labelled as “TARGIT.” JPV