CABANATUAN CITY – Two suspected hired guns allegedly also involved in strings of carnapping, akyat-bahay and robbery hold-up activities, were killed in a shoot-out with local lawmen who chased them after they held up three students, police said on Friday.
Supt. Eli Depra, city police chief, identified one of the suspects as Alfredo Santiago alias Alfie, 31, of Purok 8, Barangay San Juan Accfa this city. Police has yet to establish the identity of his companion.
Depra said Santiago is a known gun-for-hire tagged in a series of crimes in Metro Manila and Central Luzon, involving robbery, carnapping, akyat-bahay and frustrated homicide. He also has pending cases before courts in this city for falsification of public documents and reckless imprudence resulting to multiple injuries.
Depra said the encounter took place at around 1:45 a.m. along the Emilio Vergara Highway here shortly after Santiago and his companion held up Alvin Cando, 18; Xylene Clemente,20 and Charles, 21, all students of the Nueva Ecija University and Technology, along Mabini St. here.
Depra said the three students just came out of the nearby 7-11 convenience store just a few meters away from the NEUST compound when the suspects declared the hold-up and took away their Honda XRM motorcycle with license plate RI-8769 and an undetermined amount of cash.
Moments after the incident, a mobile patrol of the community police assistance center of the Cabanatuan police passed by the area and when seen by the victims reported their ordeal.
Depra organized the Compac team and sent a flash alarm to the special reaction team (SRT), counter-riding-in-tandem (CRIT) and the 3rd regional public safety battalion (RPSB) teams to run after the suspects.
They caught up with them along the Emilio Vergara Highway. Instead of surrendering, the suspects fired at the lawmen, triggering a brief firefight which resulted to their deaths.
Lawmen recovered from the encounter scene a caliber 38 home-made revolver and empty shells, the motorcycle and the money taken from the victims.
