4 more bites the dust! :gun:

4 suspected car thieves killed in QC
By Perseus Echeminada
Friday, September 7, 2007

Four suspected car thieves were killed while two others were wounded, including a police officer, when operatives of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the Traffic Management Group (TMG) engaged the suspects in a running gunbattle that started at the Quezon City-San Mateo boundary and ended at the IBP Road in front of the House of Representatives early yesterday morning.

Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, QCPD director, said the suspects on board a black Toyota Altis, with license plate no. XEJ-943, refused to stop in a police checkpoint near the QC-San Mateo boundary, prompting police operatives to pursue them.

Sensing that they were were being tailed by policemen, the suspects opened fire with pistols, hitting SPO4 Leonido Teczon who was driving the police van. The police returned fire with automatic rifles, hitting the left rear tire of the suspects’ car.

Policemen caught up with the suspects in front of the House of Representatives. One of the suspects was shot in the head as he tried to change the magazine of his .45 caliber pistol, while another one was found slumped at the back seat still clutching a 9 mm pistol.

The two other suspects were brought to the nearby Malvar General Hospital where they were declared dead on arrival.

Chief Superintendent Perfecto Palad, chief of the TMG who rushed to the crime scene with Gatdula, said the suspects’ car was already monitored passing the IBP Road the other day, apparently scouting for a victim.

Verification at the Land Transportation Office showed that the license plate of the Toyota Altis was assigned to a Toyota Revo.

“We then flashed a general alarm on the vehicle,” he said.

When spotters of the QCPD sighted the car entering Quezon City, a roadblock was set up but instead of stopping the suspects started firing at the lawmen.

Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered a sketch map from one of the slain suspects, which could be an indication that they were about to carry out criminal activities in the city.

Gatdula said organized criminal groups have shifted their activities from night to day time, usually targeting luxury cars and business establishments.

“We are urging the public to immediately report any suspicious looking vehicles roaming in their localities,” Gatdula said.

Palad said the slain suspects have yet to be identified but expressed belief that they were members of a group of car thieves operating in Metro Manila. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe