Bloody Sunday in Pahina 5 hurt in shooting between two cops
Five people were injured, four of them civilians, when two policemen engaged each other in a shootout at the densely populated area of Pahina San Nicolas early yesterday morning.
The shooting, which proceeded from
One of the policemen involved, PO1 Luther Lapinig of the PNP Regional Intelligence Office, was shot in the thigh and was promptly arrested, then taken to a hospital for treatment.
The policeman who shot him was PO3 Inocencio Lumayag of the Carbon police station and a resident of the place.
Lumayag had just risen and was about to open a small store he had at home for the day’s business when he was asked to respond to a commotion involving a man with a gun.
The man with a gun was Lapinig.
It appears from initial police investigations that a brother of Lapinig named Donald, as well as a cousin named Reynan Esperitu and a boardmate named Jose Raga, had gotten into a fight with neighbors.
Donald, Reynan and Jose had been drinking into the morning hours when they got into an altercation with bystanders. Donald reportedly got slapped in the face, prompting him to go running for help from his big brother, PO1 Lapinig.
Lapinig, with gun in hand, lost no time coming to the rescue of his kid brother.
Emboldened by the presence of the armed Lapinig, Donald and his cousin Reynan promptly attacked Gene and Leo Nanoy, themselves brothers with whom they earlier had the altercation.
Neighbors wanted to help but were held back by the intimidating presence of the armed Lapinig. The policeman did not join the fight but watched as his brother Donald and cousin Reynan mauled the Nanoy brothers.
Gene Nanoy was so badly beaten that he fell unconscious due to severe head injuries.
Unable to join the fight, some of the neighbors rushed to where PO3 Lumayag lived and asked him to come right away.
But by the time Lumayag arrived at the scene, the neighbors had summoned enough courage to charge and chase the group of Lapinig from their street.
Not knowing that the fleeing man with a gun was a policeman, Lumayag called out to him to stop, drop the gun, and hold his hands up in the air.
But instead of heeding the warning, Lapinig reportedly whirled around and allegedly started firing at the chasing Lumayag.
Lapinig missed Lumayag, but two of the bullets wounded two bystanders — Roel Abarri was hit on the forehead while Dario Encarnacion was hit on the nose.
Abarri was initially rushed to the
Lumayag, on the other hand, fired back at Lapinig, hitting him on the thigh.
Despite being hit, he continued running along with his companions on to
However, Lumayag, along with the newly-arrived SWAT and Mobile Patrol Group, finally cornered them and effected their arrest.
Inspector Mario Monilar, chief of the
Lapinig later said they continued to run in the hope of reaching the San Nicolas police station where they reportedly hoped to report being attacked.
Monilar said that during investigation, both policemen claimed to have been the one attacked.
In all, five people were hurt in the incident — Lapinig with a bullet wound on the thigh, Abarri with a bullet wound on the head, Encarnacion with a bullet wound on the nose, and the Nanoy brothers with cuts and bruises on their bodies from being mauled by the brother and cousin of Lapinig.
The two policemen underwent paraffin tests at the PNP Crime Laboratory while their guns were subjected to ballistic tests.
Sr. Superintendent Agusto Marquez, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division, said he would wait for a report on the incident before dealing with Lapinig.
Marquez said Lapinig himself informed him of the incident by text message, claiming he was attacked first, prompting him to retaliate. (/JST )
- Latest
- Trending
