Four suspected robbers die in Laguna shootout

Four suspected robbers were killed in a shootout with lawmen in Calamba City in Laguna early morning Friday, a police report said. Laguna provincial police director Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz said the encounter occurred at 2:44 a.m. when police operatives caught up with the suspects fleeing after robbing a security guard of his service firearm and a woman of her cellular phone.
An initial investigation showed the four armed men seized the cal. 38 service firearm of Emmanuel dela Cruz Sobrepeña, a security guard stationed at Jac Bus Lines terminal in Barangay Turbina in Calamba City. According to Cruz, the suspects, after robbing Sobrepeña, grabbed the cellular phone of one Jessa Belle Salibio, a resident resident of Turbina. After the incident, the suspects fled on two motorcycles toward Barangay Maunong, also in the city. A concerned citizen called up Calamba police office to report the incident, including the descriptions of the suspects' getaway motorbikes. Immediately after receiving the report, the Calamba police set up a dragnet operation, blocking all possible exit routes, Curz said. The suspects then engaged police operatives in a shootout after a chase. Recovered from the four killed suspects were five short firearms and one cellular phone unit, Cruz added. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News