Rob suspect slain in Metropolitan Theater shootout

MANILA, Philippines - A suspected robber was shot dead in an encounter with Manila policemen in the Metropolitan Theater at past midnight yesterday, bringing to at least nine the number of robbery suspects killed in alleged shootouts for this month alone.

Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section chief Inspector Armando Macaraeg said the number does not include ex-convicts and suspected criminals who were apparently victims of summary execution.

He described the slain suspect as a man aged between 35 and 40, at least 5’4” tall, heavily tattooed and armed with a .38 caliber revolver.

Police officers from the MPD’s Ermita station were patrolling along Arroceros street at past 1 a.m. when they noticed a man in a dark portion of the theater. As the lawmen approached, the man reportedly pulled out a gun at shot at them, triggering a shootout. The suspect died of three gunshot wounds in the body.

Several muggings reportedly occur almost nightly at the scene of the shootout, according to Ermita station chief Superintendent Frumencio Bernal.