3 killed in Zamboanga shootout

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Three people were killed in a shootout Friday at a busy market in the southern city of Zamboanga, police said. Killed were barangay chairman Malik Akbar of Muti village, his aide and one of the two gunmen. Police Inspector Joel Tutuh said Akbar was having lunch with his unnamed aide at the Santa Cruz market when gunmen on board motorcycles came and fired at them. Akbar and his aide were killed instantly while three other people were wounded, Tutuh said. Army soldiers who happened to be at the market killed one of the gunmen in a shootout. “We were eating lunch when we heard the shooting and saw the man still firing and we engaged him," a soldier who belongs to the local anti-terror task force told reporters. City police chief Senior Superintendent Mario Yanga identified the slain gunman as Zapanta Perez. He said a second gunman managed to escape. Akbar’s daughter, who was at the scene, said she saw one of the gunmen get off a motorcycle. “I saw him pull out his gun and shoot my father without provocation. My father was unarmed," she said. Police said they were still trying to determine the motive for the attack, but local residents believe it may have something to do with the kidnap-slaying of farm owner Doroteo Gonzales. Akbar’s son Memet Akbar was arrested last month after police implicated him in the crime. The young Akbar denied the charges. Gonzales, 61, was snatched from his house on April 25 in the village of Buenavista in Zamboanga City and brought to Basilan. His captors beheaded him last month after his family failed to pay ransom. His body has not been found. - Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV