Rookie cop shot by bus robbery suspect

A rookie policeman of the Northern Police District Office (NPDO) who was to meet with his wife on a date after getting his paycheck was shot and killed by a suspected holdup man inside an air-conditioned bus in Caloocan City Thursday.

The slain policeman was identified as PO1 Michael Gabito of the Northern Police District Office’s Drug Enforcement Unit (NPDO-DEU). He succumbed to a gunshot wound in the left thigh.

Arrested and charged with robbery with homicide by the Caloocan City police was Wilfredo Sapio, 28, with address in Malabon City and alleged to be a member of the notorious "Sigue-sigue" Sputnik gang.

Sapio was colared by Inspector Marcelo Mariano of the Caloocan City investigation and intelligence division (SIID) and his team.

Investigation showed the shooting took place at about 6 p.m., inside a Makati-bound Jeronem Transport bus (PXP 103) while it was cruising along C-3 Road in Dagat-dagatan, Caloocan City.

SIID chief Superintendent Dionisio Borromeo said that as soon as the knife-wielding suspect announced the holdup, the passengers were ordered to get down on the floor and the suspect started divesting them of their cash and jewelry.

Investigation said the policeman was about to pull out his service firearm when the suspect attacked him. A commotion ensued as the suspect and the victim grappled for the gun. Sapio managed to get a better grip on the firearm and shot Gabito, the police said.

Meanwhile, a former member of the Philippine Air Force was stabbed dead while trying to break up a riot yesterday in Pasay City.

Inspector Aquilino Almanza of the Pasay Police identified the victim as Gerry Icasiano, 34, a taxi driver.

Investigation by the Pasay Police revealed that two groups of young men and women were engaged in a rumble inside the Villamor Airbase at around 1 a.m. yesterday.

The police said Icasiano passed by the area and saw the fracas which prompted him to stop and interfere. The two groups, in the heat of the fight, ignored Icasiano initially.

However, moments later, Icasiano was found sprawled on the ground with a stab wound to his back.

Follow up operations by the Pasay Police resulted in the arrest of six of the 16 persons involved in the street fight.

Further investigations conducted by the police revealed that a certain Jorge was a principal suspect in Icasiano’s killing. But the suspect, along with the nine others, is still at large. – Jerry Botial and Marvin Sy