Robbers kill town police chief, subordinate in Ilocos Norte shootout

Two policemen, one of them the chief of police of an Ilocos Norte town, were killed in an encounter with a group of armed men who robbed a soft drink warehouse in the province Sunday morning, a police official said. Police Inspector Naldo Aromin, chief of Marcos town police, and SPO3 Danny Ballesteros were responding to a robbery in Barangay Lydia in Marcos town when killed at 9:30 a.m., Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said in a text message. The still unidentified men took some P500,000 from a Coca-Cola warehouse and tried to flee toward a hilly portion of the village, Cruz said.

A team led by Aromin tried to pursue the escaping suspects, but he and Ballesteros were fatally hit when the suspects fired at them, Cruz added. A still unidentified robber was also killed in the shootout, according to Cruz. Local government officials and police officers are currently conducting follow-up operations to trace the robbers, he added. - KBK, GMA News