Suspected robber hurt in shootout

One of the three suspected robbers was critically wounded when they shot it out with police officers during a failed attempt to rob a hardware store in Malabon City Monday afternoon.

Noel Cobarrubias, a resident of Desierto Street, Barangay Tanong in Malabon City, is now fighting for his life at the Tondo Medical Center in Manila due to multiple gunshot wounds in the body.

Police Officer 2 Robert Miclat said Cobarrubias yielded a nine-millimeter pistol with bullets.

Miclat said that at around 3 p.m., at least three armed men barged into the M. Gutierrez Lumber and Hardware Store on M.H. del Pilar Street in Barangay Santulan and announced a heist. The store owner, Michael Gutierrez, was able to call for police assistance.

Malabon sub-station 1 head Chief Inspector Redyel Aldueso and his men arrived in the area and engaged the suspects in a gunfight.

In the brief exchange of gunshots, Cobarrubias was hit while his two unidentified companions fled on a black Honda motorcycle with plate number FL 1555.

Police brought the wounded suspect for treatment at the Tondo Medical Center.

“The store’s security guard was also instrumental in the foiled robbery try because he was the first one to put up a stand against the robbers,” Miclat said.

Miclat said that they have yet to get the name of the security guard and “are in the process of tracing the owner of the getaway motorcycle and the group which Cobarrubias belongs.”

Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Pedro Tango commended the Malabon City police officers for their quick action and directed them to hunt down the two remaining suspects “as soon as possible.”   – Pete Laude