TWO motorcycle-riding gunmen were killed in a shootout with police Wednesday midnight shortly after they allegedly robbed two people in Novaliches, Quezon City.
Superintendent Rossel Cejas, Quezon City Police Station 4 commander, said the suspects remain unidentified but described them to be in their late 20s and early 30s, both with “Sputnik” tattoo on the right side of the body.
Police report showed that two complainants, Jonathan Palaje, 34, and Kobe Juliano, 18, went to the police station separately to report that they were robbed by two unidentified armed men.
According to Palaje, he was onboard his black Honda motorcycle on Urduja Street in Barangay Novaliches Proper around 9:45 p.m., Tuesday when two armed men forcibly took his motorbike.
More than an hour later, Juliano said two motorcycle-riding gunmen robbed him of his mobile phone and some P3,000 cash in front of a bank on Quirino Highway in Barangay Gulod. This prompted the operatives of Novaliches Police Station to conduct a follow-up operation against the suspect.
At past 12 a.m., Wednesday, policemen spotted two men onboard a motorcycle that matched the description of Palaje’s stolen motorbike on Villareal Street in Barangay Gulod.
Authorities flagged down the duo, but the latter sped off towards Veronica Street where they were cornered by pursuing police officers.
Instead of surrendering, the suspects fired shots at the cops who retaliated, killing them.
The two complainants, who went to the crime scene, positively identified the slain suspects as the same men who robbed them.
Police recovered the victims’ stolen motorcycle, cellphone and P3,000 cash; and the suspects’ .45-caliber pistol, .38-caliber revolver, some ammunition and three small sachets of suspected shabu. (Alexandria San Juan)
