4 days since Police shootout: 1 of 2 hit by stray bullets dies due to severe injury

One of two civilians who were wounded in last Sunday’s shootout between two policemen along Garfield Street in barangay Pahina San Nicolas died yesterday while in hospital confinement.

Rowell Abarri, 27, married and resident of Alaska-Mambaling, died at past 12 a.m. yesterday of a gunshot wound on his forehead that pierced through the back of his head.

His cousin Leonides Abarri, a radio technician of DyMF radio, confirmed this in a telephone interview with The Freeman last night, saying that Rowell’s brain was reportedly swollen after it was severely damaged by the bullet.

Rowell and a certain Dario Encarnacion were injured when two policemen, who failed to recognize each other, engaged each other in a shootout over an armed person alarm.

The wounded Rowell was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center then moved to the South General Hospital for extensive medical care because of injuries but died four days after. Encarnacion, for his part, was hit in the right side of his nose but survived.

Leonides said that Rowell had a two-year-old daughter and a pregnant wife. He just came from a Saturday disco along with other relatives from the barangay when he was caught in the crossfire of the policemen’s shootout.

The two policemen were PO1 Luther Lapinig, of the Regional Intelligence Office-7, and PO3 Inocencio Lumayag, of the Carbon Police Station miscellaneous team.

Lumayag, a resident of the area, was off-duty at the time when he responded to his neighbors’ alert about an armed person who turned out to be Lapinig.

Reports had it that Lapinig ignored Lumayag’s warning and fired at the latter instead, resulting in an exchange of gunfire between the two.

Witnesses said that Rowell and Encarnacion happened to be at the area behind Lumayag, which means that they were hit by bullets coming from the opposite side of Lapinig.

Investigators said Lapinig went to the area after his younger brother Donald, 19, called for help when he and his group got into trouble with bystanders near their boarding house in Garfield Street.

When Lapinig’s group arrived, Donald allegedly attacked brothers Jeanne and Leo Nanoy while Lapinig himself was watching with his firearm drawn.

Residents then chased away Lapinig’s group just in time when Lumayag arrived and ordered Lapinig to surrender. This resulted in a shootout however.

The Homicide Section had earlier filed two counts of frustrated homicide against Lapinig but City Police director Patrocinio Comendador said the death of Rowell yesterday would mean an amendment to one of the cases.

Comendador said one of the counts of frustrated homicide would be amended to one count of frustrated homicide and reckless imprudence resulting to homicide. — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE