3 suspects killed in failed hardware shop heist

MANILA, Philippines - Three armed men were killed in a shootout with Quezon City policemen who chanced upon them leaving a construction supply shop they failed to rob at past noon yesterday.

Superintendent Alex Sintin, commander of the Quezon City Police District-Station 3, said two of the suspects were killed on the spot and the third man died while at the Quezon City General Hospital.

Sintin said during the heist at the hardware shop on Road 20, Barangay Bahay Toro owned by a certain William Goque, one of the suspects tried to shoot security guard Sinfroso Alingalan, but “the handgun failed to fire.”

The suspects also tried to pry open one of the drawers at the shop but failed to get anything as the shop’s earnings were reportedly stored elsewhere.

Apparently panicking, the suspects left the store and boarded their motorcycles without any loot in hand – and ran into police officers patrolling the area.

When police officers prevented the suspects from leaving, the suspects shot it out with QCPD-Station 3 policemen, led by Sintin and Inspector Angelo Nicolas. The three slain suspects were armed with .38 caliber revolvers, Sintin said.

“We spotted them (suspects) on Road 20 a few blocks away from the hardware shop. They opened fire as we were chasing them,” Nicolas – who heads the QCPD-Station 3’s intelligence and investigation branch – told The STAR.

According to Sintin, the three suspects have yet to be identified. Police have declared a manhunt for the suspects’ two companions, who escaped during the firefight.

“We believe these suspects were the ones who had staged past robberies at other shops in the area, based on descriptions given by past victims. One of the motorcycles they used (a black Honda Wave with plate number 5279-NP) has been identified by witnesses as the same one used in the past incidents,” Sintin told The STAR in an interview.

Sintin said policemen have been conducting patrols in the area because of the past robberies allegedly staged by the same group of suspects.