Rob suspect shoots cop, teen

A manhunt is on for a suspected robber who shot a police officer and a 15-year-old girl in Caloocan City Saturday afternoon.

City police chief Superintendent William Macavinta told The STAR a composite team from the city’s police stations was formed to hunt down Efren Ponce, also wanted for a series of robberies in Caloocan North, “and bring him to the bar of justice at all cost.”

Ponce, a resident of Barangay 175 in Camarin, Caloocan City, was tagged in the ambush of Senior Police Officer 1 Wilson Reyes in Bagumbong, Caloocan North at around 12:40 p.m. Saturday.

Macavinta said that Reyes, assigned at Sub-Station 4 in Camarin, was investigating a reported robbery in Bagumbong when Ponce ambushed him on Rainbow Road.

Reyes was hit in the chest and stomach and other parts of his body. A stray bullet hit 15-year-old bystander Reymalin Arellon in the head. Reyes fired back at Ponce but the suspect escaped on a yellow motorcycle.

“Our policeman and the girl are now out of danger,” Superintendent Jose Valencia, Caloocan City police intelligence and investigation branch chief, said.

Valencia said Reyes was also hunting down Ponce –  who has a warrant of arrest for robbery and is implicated in a string of robberies in their area – when he was ambushed. – Pete Laude