GENERAL SANTOS CITY – A suspect in the abduction and killing of a 16-year-old girl in Banga, South Cotabato was killed in a police operation in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat yesterday.
Police Brig. Gen. Alfred Corpus, Police Regional Office 12 director, said Richard Romo Gumilid, 31, was gunned down by operatives after he reportedly tried to throw a hand grenade when they attempted to “invite” him for investigation at about 2:25 a.m. Corpus said the incident occurred by the roadside in front of Gumilid’s house in Barangay Kalawag 1.
He said Gumilid was initially identified as a “person of interest” in the kidnap-slaying of Barbie Inocencio, a resident of Banga, who was reported missing on Monday and eventually found dead on Wednesday afternoon.
Gumilid, he said, resisted and was armed with a hand grenade when operatives managed to track him down at his residence. “He became unruly and tried to throw the grenade, so he (had) to be neutralized,” Corpus said in a radio interview.
A police report from the Isulan municipal police listed Gumilid as single and a businessman from the area.
The Grade 10 student of the Notre Dame of Banga was reported missing by her mother late Monday after she failed to return home from school and lost contact with her.
She was found with her hands tied and placed on a sack in a waterway in Purok Bagong Silang, Barangay Punong Grande at past 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Corpus said the results of the initial investigation conducted by crime scene operatives showed that the victim could have died from drowning.
An autopsy conducted by personnel of the municipal health office said the victim had wounds on her neck and head.
Corpus said the initial findings were still inconclusive as to whether or not the victim was sexually abused and the regional crime laboratory has recommended a deoxyribonucleic acid testing to ascertain the matter. (Joseph Jubelag and PNA)
