Brig. Gen. Alfred Corpus, Police Regional Office 12. (File photo courtesy of PRO-12)
Police are eyeing an organized crime group as behind the ambush and killing of two policemen in an outskirt village in Polomolok town, South Cotabato province on Wednesday afternoon.
Brig. Gen. Alfred Corpus, Police Regional Office 12 (Soccsksargen) director, said Thursday four members of the Polomolok municipal police station’s “motorcycle cops” were patrolling a portion of Barangay Koronadal Proper past 2 p.m. on Wednesday when they were waylaid by unidentified armed men.
Corpus said two of the policemen, identified as Patrolman Bryan Costello and Corporal Witzel Russ Betantos, were wounded in the attack and later died at the Howard Hubbard Memorial Hospital.
The other two members of the patrol team, whose identities are being withheld for security reasons, were unhurt and managed to return fire at the masked suspects, who hastily withdrew from the area, he said.
“We strongly condemn this incident. Our policemen were just doing their jobs to help contain the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic when they were attacked,” Corpus said in a phone interview.
A report from the Polomolok police station said the policemen, who were riding-in-tandem on two motorcycles, were on their way back to the town proper when they were ambushed by at least seven armed men.
The suspects were reportedly armed with automatic rifles, based on accounts from the two survivors and slugs recovered at the scene.
Capt. Rommel Hitalia, Polomolok deputy police station chief, said the ambush was clearly planned as the area was the usual route of their patrol team.
Hitalia said the ambush could have been a retaliation following their recent intensified operations against illegal drug groups in parts of Polomolok, including those based in Barangay Koronadal Proper.
“We are already pursuing some leads regarding the motive and identities of the suspects,” he said without further elaborating.
Corpus said pursuit operations are ongoing in parts of Koronadal Proper and the neighboring villages where the suspects were believed to have fled after the incident.
“This is one of our top priorities right now. Rest assured that we will exert the necessary efforts to bring justice to our fallen personnel,” he added.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1101444
Brig. Gen. Alfred Corpus, Police Regional Office 12 (Soccsksargen) director, said Thursday four members of the Polomolok municipal police station’s “motorcycle cops” were patrolling a portion of Barangay Koronadal Proper past 2 p.m. on Wednesday when they were waylaid by unidentified armed men.
Corpus said two of the policemen, identified as Patrolman Bryan Costello and Corporal Witzel Russ Betantos, were wounded in the attack and later died at the Howard Hubbard Memorial Hospital.
The other two members of the patrol team, whose identities are being withheld for security reasons, were unhurt and managed to return fire at the masked suspects, who hastily withdrew from the area, he said.
“We strongly condemn this incident. Our policemen were just doing their jobs to help contain the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic when they were attacked,” Corpus said in a phone interview.
A report from the Polomolok police station said the policemen, who were riding-in-tandem on two motorcycles, were on their way back to the town proper when they were ambushed by at least seven armed men.
The suspects were reportedly armed with automatic rifles, based on accounts from the two survivors and slugs recovered at the scene.
Capt. Rommel Hitalia, Polomolok deputy police station chief, said the ambush was clearly planned as the area was the usual route of their patrol team.
Hitalia said the ambush could have been a retaliation following their recent intensified operations against illegal drug groups in parts of Polomolok, including those based in Barangay Koronadal Proper.
“We are already pursuing some leads regarding the motive and identities of the suspects,” he said without further elaborating.
Corpus said pursuit operations are ongoing in parts of Koronadal Proper and the neighboring villages where the suspects were believed to have fled after the incident.
“This is one of our top priorities right now. Rest assured that we will exert the necessary efforts to bring justice to our fallen personnel,” he added.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1101444
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.