Murder suspect killed, cop wounded in Lanao del Sur shootout

COTABATO CITY — A man wanted for murder was killed, and a policeman was wounded in a shootout on Wednesday, July 17, in Barangay Malungun, Taraka, Lanao del Sur.

Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, told reporters on Friday, July 18, that a police team intended to serve the suspect a warrant peacefully, but the operation went awry when the suspect pulled out a gun and opened fire.

The suspect had a pending murder case in a court in Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur.

Local executives in Taraka and officials of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police had reported to De Guzman’s office at Camp SK Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, that the slain wanted person kept firearms and explosives in his hideout in Malungun.

The brief exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the policemen dispatched to arrest him left a police intelligence operative wounded, now confined to a hospital. The agent sustained bullet wounds in his arms and hands.