BANGUED, Abra – A member of an alleged freelance private armed group operating in the province died after he was shot by alert police personnel when he engaged them in a shootout at Zone 7, here, Sunday night.
The suspect was identified as Mark Apura De Guzman alias “Macmac”, of legal age and a resident of La Paz, Abra.
Prior to the incident, personnel of the Bangued Municipal Police Station (MPS) received information from a concerned citizen that an identified armed man was roaming around the area, immediately intel operatives conducted intelligence monitoring where they spotted the suspect on board his white honda beat motorcycle with a missing plate number coming from Capitulation Street.
In response, operatives signal him to stop for violating curfew hours. However, the suspect alighted from his motorcycle and pulled his gun from his waist, and shoot the operatives provoking them to fight back. The suspect manage to escape towards Astudillo Compound, Santiago Street, Zone 7 but the law enforcers were able to track him that led to another shootout resulting in the wounding of the suspect. Cops immediately brought the suspect to Abra Provincial Hospital for medication but he was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician Dr. Felino Burgos.
The speedy capture of the suspect is a result of the brave and quick reaction of the operatives who acted in the reported information. During the encounter, no casualty on the side of the police.
Recovered from the crime scene were numerous spent shells of caliber .45 and .9mm pistol while the caliber .45 pistol that was used by the suspect was also recovered from his possession.