Jolo cops involved in shooting incident to appear before NBI on July 15

The nine police officers involved in the killing of four soldiers in Jolo, Sulu will appear before the National Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday, according to Philippine National Police spokesman Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac.

On Tuesday, Banac told GMA News Online that the policemen are scheduled to appear before the NBI at 9 a.m. He said this is part of the preliminary investigation on the incident.

According to Banac, the cops will still be under the custody of Camp Crame.

"Part pa rin ng prelim probe... Balik lang ulit Camp Crame right after," Banac said.

The nine police officers were transferred to Camp Crame last week so that they would be easily available to face probe by the NBI.

On June 29, the military men were tracking suicide bombers when the shooting incident transpired.

The soldiers were flagged down by cops in Barangay Walled City. Despite identifying themselves as members of the military, they were instructed to go to the police station for further verification of their identities.

According to a police spot report, the shooting incident happened when the soldiers escaped and pointed their weapons at the police officers. This allegedly prompted the policemen to fire at the soldiers.

The NBI said one of the killed government troops had eight gunshot wounds while three gunshot wounds were found on the other two soldiers.

The PNP said it is up to the NBI to determine if there was an overkill that happened in the incident.

Four of the nine cops tested positive in a paraffin test, according to the NBI. — RSJ, GMA News