Cop killed in shootout, 2 others injured

A 32-year-old operative of the Northern Police District (NPD) was killed, while two others, including the chief of the district’s Drug Enforcement Unit, were injured in a shootout inside the DEU office Tuesday night.

PO3 Eduardo Gaddi succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds in the body while Superintendent Reynaldo Orante, DEU chief, sustained a superficial wound in the neck while SPO4 Jorge Tabayag, another DEU operative was reportedly wounded in the hand.

Investigation showed that at around 10:15 p.m., several gunshots were heard inside the DEU office wherein one of the stray bullets penetrated through the adjacent office of the Northern Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, missing by a few inches one of the CIDG operatives watching television. A slug from a .9mm pistol was recovered yesterday inside the NCIDG office.

DEU operatives, whom The STAR tried to interview, refused to divulge any information about the incident saying they were only following orders by Orante and NPD director Senior Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr. not to give any statement to the media. Police sources, however, claimed that a confrontation occurred between Orante and Gaddi when the latter reportedly questioned his chief’s decision transferring him to Valenzuela City. The two reportedly engaged in a heated verbal tussle resulting in a shootout. – Pete Laude