CEBU CITY – Fifteen armed men, wearing bonnets and carrying long firearms, stormed a hospital in Medellin before midnight Tuesday and shot dead the former Medellin mayor who was under hospital arrest.
The daring raid took place around 11:50 p.m. at the Bogo-Medellin Medical Center, a secondary 25-bed hospital in Barangay Luya.
Ricky Ramirez, 55, succumbed to multiple bullet wounds in the body.
Police Major Audie Pelayo, chief of Medellin police station, said the gunmen disarmed the hospital’s lone security guard and proceeded to the nurse’s station.
Four of the armed men asked one of the nurses to bring them to the room where Ramirez was confined.
Jail officer Renan Pableo said he, Ramirez, and the girlfriend of the victim’s son were watching television when the suspects broke into the room.
Ramirez immediately ran to the toilet inside the room along with his son’s girlfriend.
Pableo said one of the intruders kicked him, told him to drop on the floor before taking his service firearm and mobile phone.
The intruders broke through the toilet door and repeatedly shot Ramirez. The woman was left unharmed.
The assailants fled aboard three sports utility vehicles (SUV) and a sedan, bringing the personal belongings, including the phones of the hospital personnel.
Empty shells of M4 rifle and .9mm caliber pistol were recovered in the crime scene.
Pelayo said the hospital had no security cameras.
The victim served as Medellin mayor for three terms. When his term expired in 2016, Ramirez ran for councilor and won but his son, Ricardo IV, lost in the mayoral race against Joven Mondigo Jr.
On July 26, 2017, Ramirez was arrested after police found unlicensed high-powered firearms during a raid in his home. Drug-sniffing paraphernalia such as tinfoil, lighter, and tooter were also found in the house.
At the time, former Police Regional Office-Central Visayas director Jose Mario Espino tagged Ramirez as a “high-value” target, citing intelligence reports that Ramirez was involved in the illegal drug trade.
Ramirez denied that he was into illegal drugs. He claimed that the seized firearms, two M16 rifles with telescope, a .30 caliber rifle, a .22 caliber rifle with telescope, .45 caliber gun, 9mm caliber pistol, and two air guns, were already defective.
While being detained, Ramirez was taken to a hospital in Cebu City after his blood pressure shot up. Ramirez’s request to have him under hospital arrest was granted by the court.
Last Feb. 20, police conducted a surprise inspection in the hospital room of Ramirez where liquors, cigarettes, lighters, cellphone accessories, wireless charger, playing cards, and portable speaker were seized. (Calvin Cordova)