HPG cop killed in shootout during anti-carnapping operation in Cavite City
A member of the Highway Patrol Group was killed in a shootout during an anti-carnapping operation in Cavite City that left one suspect dead and at least one bystander injured.
A report on GMA's "24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday said that the police officers were inspecting a vehicle with no plate number and conduction sticker when the shootout happened. The report did not indicate the time or day the incident happened.
The driver and passengers of the vehicle claimed to be members of the Philippine Navy, but declined to present any identification when asked. A certain Methusael Brown Cebrian then alighted the vehicle and reportedly opened fire at the police using a Bushmaster automatic rifle.
Cebrian—identified by the police as a husband of a Navy officer assigned at Sangley Point but not a member of the Navy himself—was killed during the incident. He was also said to have been involved in another incident in May 2016.
Hit in the shootout were HPG police chief Master Sergeant Julius Arcalas—who was brought to a nearby hospital, where he died—and Eduardo Magbana, a street sweeper currently recuperating from a hit on his thigh.
"Nagmadali silang nagtago o kumubli doon sa likod ng kanilang kotse na kanilang patrol tsaka sila binugahan. Accordingly, doon nakatayo o doon nagtatago 'yung ating namatay na miyembro ng Highway Patrol Team," Cavite Police Provincial Office director Police Colonel Marlon Santos said in the report.
"Nakaganti 'yung ating kapulisan kasi binaril sila eh, so prompting them to return fire na which resulted nga to the death of the suspect," he added.
The police is now investigating the matter, and is in coordination with the Firearm Explosives Office to determine the ownership of the Bushmaster. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM/RSJ, GMA News