MANILA, Philippines - Five suspected carjackers were killed when they traded shots with police in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City yesterday morning.
Police have yet to identify the slain suspects.
Two of the suspects got out of a stolen taxicab (UWB-489) and three others alighted from a sport utility vehicle and then fired at the police officers who were manning a checkpoint along Payatas Road at around 8 a.m., Chief Inspector Richard Ang, head of the Quezon City Police District anti-car theft unit (ANCAR), said.
Ang said the policemen returned fire, killing all five suspects on the spot.
Prior to the shootout, Ang said they received information from the Cubao police station that a cab had been stolen by a group of armed men at past 4 a.m.
Members of ANCAR and the Special Traffic Action Group immediately set up a checkpoint along Payatas Road to block the suspects.
Ang said that when they spotted the stolen taxicab, policemen asked its occupants to pull over, but the suspects opted to shoot it out with the police.
No policeman was injured.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Sarmiento and National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Joel Pagdilao arrived at the scene following the shootout.