“OVERKILL.”
This was how Samuel Juarez described the death of his half-brother Pedro Labajo Jr., who was killed in an alleged shootout with the authorities in Barangay Manipis, Talisay City last Monday morning.
“Nakita gyud nako nga naglingkod ra ang akong maguwang sulod sa iyang balay sa dihang nikalit og sulod ang mga pulis, unya gipusil dayon. (I saw my brother just sitting inside the house when the police suddenly entered and shot him),” he told reporters yesterday.
Juarez, a security guard, said he heard six gunshots.
Juarez lodged a complaint before the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7, saying the law enforcers entered their house without a warrant.
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, PRO 7 deputy regional director for operations, said they will investigate the incident.
The Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch will conduct the inquiry.
Lawas also ordered Talisay City Police Station Chief Aileen Recla to submit a report on the incident.
In an interview, Recla said Labajo was armed and resisted the arrest.
No one from the responding officers from the Special Weapons and Tactics and Philippine Army was hurt.
The responding officers, she said, rushed Labajo to a public hospital in the city but the attending doctor declared him dead on arrival.
Before the alleged shootout at 8:30 a.m., Labajo, 45, and his wife Mary Ann, 45, had an argument.
Mary Ann then sought the help of the police and told them she had been hurt by her husband.
Police recovered a .45 pistol, .22 rifle, a magazine, seven bullets and five empty shells from the crime scene.
