5 robbers killed in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines - Five alleged robbers, one of them a woman, died after they traded shots with policemen following a heist in Quezon City Tuesday night. Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Superintendent Mario dela Vega said they have yet to identify the slain suspects, who yielded three caliber .38 guns and a hand grenade. He said the suspects were killed in an encounter with operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit and the District Intelligence Division. Dela Vega said the suspects robbed a shop along Fairlane street in Barangay East Fairview prior to the shootout. Inspector Elmer Monsalve, head of the homicide investigation section, said they recovered P19,700 cash, two laptops and a mobile phone taken by the suspects from the shop. Shop owner Michael Minoza and his employee, Dabreb Florano, were about to close at 8:30 p.m. when the five suspects entered the establishment and announced a heist. They said the female suspect was the one who took the shop’s daily earnings. She also lobbed two grenades at the shop but failed to explode. Roving policemen noticed the commotion inside the establishment. The robbers allegedly engaged the cops in a gunfight, prompting policemen to retaliate, killing the five suspects. - By Reinir Padua