Cop hurt in Batangas shooting

BATANGAS CITY – A police officer was shot and injured by a person he was trying to arrest in Lipa City in Batangas province on Monday morning, police said.

Senior Police Officer 1 Oliver Morcilla, investigator on the case, said the victim Police Officer 2 Jerome Jay Mendoza, assigned at Lipa, was shot and wounded by suspect John Michael Kalaw in Barangay (village) Uno at around 2 a.m.

Morcilla said Mendoza was on board his motorcycle on his way home when he noticed the suspect along the highway writing something on the tarpaulin of the Lipa City mayor.

Mendoza rebuked Kalaw from vandalizing but the latter did not listen. Instead, Kalaw removed his shirt and told the policeman to fight him.

Mendoza tried to arrest Kalaw but the suspect managed to grab the police officer’s gun and shot him on the chest.

Mendoza was brought to a hospital for treatment. He is now in stable condition. The suspect Kalaw was nabbed and brought to a different hospital after he suffered a wound on the head from resisting arrest. JE