‘Cop killer’ slain in QC shootout

MANILA, Philippines - An alleged cop killer was shot dead in an encounter with policemen in a slum area in Quezon City yesterday morning.

The slain suspect, identified as Rodolfo Adolfo, was tagged by his own neighbors as among those who killed Senior Police Officer 1 Miguel Gayagoy Jr. in January this year, said Superintendent Norberto Babagay, commander of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 4.

Babagay said Adolfo and three companions opened fire at policemen, who responded to reports of armed men playing the illegal gambling game, cara y cruz, in Barangay Sta. Monica in Novaliches.

At around 9 a.m., a police team led by Chief Inspector Raul Resoles was manning a checkpoint when a resident told them about the armed men on Tatlonghari street.

Resoles and some of the policemen went to the area in an unmarked car to check on the report.

As they were getting off the sedan, Adolfo and his cohorts allegedly were rattled by the presence of uniformed men and opened fire, forcing policemen to retaliate.

Adolfo was killed while the three others managed to escape. There was no bystander hit in the exchange of shots.

After Adolfo fell, a resident told police about his alleged participation in the killing of Gayagoy, also a resident of the barangay, back in January.

Following Gayagoy’s death in January, investigators looked into the possibility that it was related to the killing of a police informant and the death of another suspect. 

Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo, head of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said in a past interview that Gayagoy was among those who killed suspect Akmad Silongan in an encounter in Barangay Gulod last Jan. 4.

Eral Fabi, said to be Gayagoy’s informant, was killed that same month.