Four of eight hold-up suspects were killed in a shootout with policemen early Tuesday morning shortly after they robbed a convenience store and a gasoline station in Quezon City.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Joel Villanueva, chief of Quezon City Police District’s Batasan Police Station (PS-6), said the four slain suspects are yet to be identified. Their cohorts managed to flee and are now the subject of a police manhunt.
Prior to the encounter, eight helmet-wearing men onboard four motorcycles arrived at a gasoline station on Payatas Road in Barangay Payatas past 2 a.m. and declared the heist.
The group also robbed a convenience store near the gasoline station before escaping with the stolen money amounting to at least P19,000 and two mobile phones.
PS-6 cops, who were patrolling near the area, were flagged down by the store cashier and the gas station attendant, informing them of the incident.
The police officers immediately conducted a follow-up operation against the suspects based on the descriptions given by the victims.
At about 2:45 a.m., police spotted the robbers evading a checkpoint on Molave Street corner Payatas Road, resulting in a chase.
Upon reaching the corner of San Jose Street and Payatas Road, the suspects suddenly opened fire at the pursuing police officers who retaliated and hit four of them.
The four robbers died on the spot while their four other companions managed to elude arrest on board two motorbikes.
Police recovered from the slain suspects four .38-caliber revolvers, seven sachets of shabu, a digital weighing scale, and two motorcycles without plate numbers, which police said were used by the robbers during the heist. (Alexandria San Juan)
