FIVE suspected car thieves were killed in a shootout with policemen in Quezon City late Wednesday night, an official said.
The gun battle erupted at around 10:30 p.m. along Kamuning road when the suspects, who were driving a stolen taxi (PWM304) refused to be flagged down, said Superintendent Roger James Brillantes, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) intelligence chief.

The QCPD anti-carjacking unit had received a radio report that the said taxi cab was stolen along MIA Road in Pasay City, Brillantes said.

The suspects were first spotted at the intersection of Quezon and Rossevelt Avenues, sparking a brief chase that ended on Kamuning road, Brillantes said.

“They [suspects] fired the first shot,” Brillantes said, adding no policeman was hurt.

Four of the suspects died on the spot while the fifth was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, he said.

“This is the same gang that steals taxicabs for use as getaway vehicles in other crimes,” Brillantes said.

A .38-caliber revolver and a .22-caliber pistol were seized from the suspects, Brillantes said.