Wife shot dead by policeman-spouse in Zamboanga City

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A policeman shot dead his wife amid a heated altercation inside a house in Barangay San Jose Gusu in Zamboanga City on Saturday morning.

In an initial report released two hours after the incident, the Zamboanga City Police Office said the suspect, Chief Master Sgt. Julius Santillan Ocariza, first escaped, but eventually surrendered to members of the Curuan Police Station 2, which is under the Zamboanga CPO.

Ocariza, assigned at the Isabela City Police Office in Basilan province, reportedly killed his spouse, Fredellen, with a pistol inside a house in Block 3, Armor Village in Barangay San Jose Gusu.

Residents had confirmed to responding police investigators and reporters having heard the couple arguing, shouting invectives at each other before gunshots reverberated through the scene.

Villagers said they were to prevent Ocariza from running away, but balked when they saw him holding his pistol, a finger on the trigger. He is now locked in a detention facility of the Zamboanga CPO.