3 cops killed, 1 seriously hurt in Olongapo attack
Three city policemen and a security guard assigned at a pawnshop near a police checkpoint on the national highway in Barangay Barretto were killed Thursday evening in what police officials believe was a rebel attack. Another policeman was seriously wounded in the attack.
Senior Supt. Orlando Maddela Jr., Olongapo City Police Office director, identified the slain policemen as Insp. Ernesto Cruz from Bataan, Senior Police Officer 2 Bologto Ramos and SPO1 Emerson Valdez, both from Zambales, and Felix Tacbas, a security guard of Lovely Kahael’s pawnshop in Barangay Barretto and a resident of Barangay Santa Elena, Subic, Zambales. The policemen were from Police Precinct 6.
Veteran policemen here said this was the first such attack made on policemen in the city. Maddela’s report said Cruz and Tacbas were killed instantly in front of the HBC building near the Community Police Assistance Center outpost. Ramos was declared dead on arrival at the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital while Valdez died as he was undergoing surgery.
SPO1 Benjamin Quintino, the lone survivor, is still listed in critical condition.
Investigators said the attackers, believed to be members of the New People’s Army breakaway group Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan and armed with M-16 and .45-caliber pistols, struck at 10:20 p.m.
Police declined to give further details on the identities of the gunmen.
Witnesses said the gunmen were onboard an L300 van (WKA 635) and suddenly fired at the policemen when they saw the checkpoint, which was located near several of the city’s bars and restaurants.
Tacbas’ fellow security guard, Ronald delos Reyes, said Tacbas had a wife and three children.
Responding city policemen, aided by policemen from Subic, found the gunmen’s van abandoned at 12 midnight in Barangay Manggahan, Subic, Zambales. A bullet hole on the left side of the van indicated that at least one of the policemen at the checkpoint was able to shoot back at the attackers, an investigator said.
The van turned out to be rented from the D-Axis Car Rental Co., owned by Elizer Alonzo of Field Avenue, Angeles City.
An employee of the rental company assigned to drive the van, Ver Badato, 41, said one of the gunmen rented the vehicle at 4 p.m. saying they would pick up a few guests in San Fernando, Pampanga. Instead of heading for San Fernando, they headed for the dike in Porac, Pampanga, where two more men got on the van.
Badato said the men then asked him to get off the van and drove toward Olongapo City.
The owner of the rented van told police he received a text message at 3 a.m. on December 10 informing him that the van was in police custody. It was not immediately known who sent the message.
The gunmen, who were last seen fleeing toward the hills of Zambales, were able to take two M-16 rifles and a radio from the police checkpoint.
Police officials in Olongapo said the Zambales and Bataan provincial police will aid in tracking down the gunmen
Senior Supt. Orlando Maddela Jr., Olongapo City Police Office director, identified the slain policemen as Insp. Ernesto Cruz from Bataan, Senior Police Officer 2 Bologto Ramos and SPO1 Emerson Valdez, both from Zambales, and Felix Tacbas, a security guard of Lovely Kahael’s pawnshop in Barangay Barretto and a resident of Barangay Santa Elena, Subic, Zambales. The policemen were from Police Precinct 6.
Veteran policemen here said this was the first such attack made on policemen in the city. Maddela’s report said Cruz and Tacbas were killed instantly in front of the HBC building near the Community Police Assistance Center outpost. Ramos was declared dead on arrival at the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital while Valdez died as he was undergoing surgery.
SPO1 Benjamin Quintino, the lone survivor, is still listed in critical condition.
Investigators said the attackers, believed to be members of the New People’s Army breakaway group Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan and armed with M-16 and .45-caliber pistols, struck at 10:20 p.m.
Police declined to give further details on the identities of the gunmen.
Witnesses said the gunmen were onboard an L300 van (WKA 635) and suddenly fired at the policemen when they saw the checkpoint, which was located near several of the city’s bars and restaurants.
Tacbas’ fellow security guard, Ronald delos Reyes, said Tacbas had a wife and three children.
Responding city policemen, aided by policemen from Subic, found the gunmen’s van abandoned at 12 midnight in Barangay Manggahan, Subic, Zambales. A bullet hole on the left side of the van indicated that at least one of the policemen at the checkpoint was able to shoot back at the attackers, an investigator said.
The van turned out to be rented from the D-Axis Car Rental Co., owned by Elizer Alonzo of Field Avenue, Angeles City.
An employee of the rental company assigned to drive the van, Ver Badato, 41, said one of the gunmen rented the vehicle at 4 p.m. saying they would pick up a few guests in San Fernando, Pampanga. Instead of heading for San Fernando, they headed for the dike in Porac, Pampanga, where two more men got on the van.
Badato said the men then asked him to get off the van and drove toward Olongapo City.
The owner of the rented van told police he received a text message at 3 a.m. on December 10 informing him that the van was in police custody. It was not immediately known who sent the message.
The gunmen, who were last seen fleeing toward the hills of Zambales, were able to take two M-16 rifles and a radio from the police checkpoint.
Police officials in Olongapo said the Zambales and Bataan provincial police will aid in tracking down the gunmen
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
9:28 AM
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