5 carjacking suspects, hostage killed in shootout with cops

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga , Philippines– Five suspected carjackers, including a woman, were killed in an alleged shootout with policemen in Danzo, Gerona, Tarlac, early Sunday. Senior Superintendent Alfred Corpus said the slain suspects, who allegedly murdered the owner of the vehicle they stole in Baguio City on Saturday, have yet to be identified. Superintendent Ponciano Zafra, Gerona police chief, said police are still investigating the affiliation of the suspects, who are believed to be natives of Kalinga and operating in the Cordilleras. Police learned that the slain suspects came last Saturday from Baguio City, where they stole a Toyota Innova (NDO-933) driven by Roldan Ymson, 67. The suspects took Ymson as hostage and fled using the stolen vehicle. Zafra said the Baguio City police received the report of the carjacking at 1:30 a.m. Sunday and immediately sent out an alarm to other police units. At 4 a.m., police monitored the presence of suspicious-looking men who forced open the gates of a farm in Barangay Danzo, Gerona. But instead of yielding, the suspects shot at a police team sent to the area to verify the report, triggering a brief exchange of gunfire. Police recovered from the slain suspects two .45 caliber pistols, two .38 caliber revolvers and a fragmentation grenade, which one of the slain suspects tried to detonate before he was shot dead. The body of Ymson was found hogtied with gunshot wounds in the chest in Pozzorubio, Pangasinan yesterday morning. - By Ric Sapnu and Cecille Suerte Felipe