3, including a child, killed in 'shootout' during arrest warrant service

A 12-year-old child and two others were killed, while three others were wounded, after the police's service of a warrant of arrest resulted in an alleged shootout.

According to Mav Gonazales’ Thursday report on “24 Oras,” the walls of a house were covered in bullet holes while bullet casings were scattered outside after an encounter past 1:30 a.m.

“Kailangan ninyo pong managot kasi hindi po tama ang inyong ginawa. Kinuha niyo po ang buhay ng pamilya ko, ng papa ko, pinsan ko, at ng kapatid ko. Imagine, 12 years old, walang kamuwang-muwang tapos ganun ang nangyari,” said Mohammad Asiri Alfad, a family member of the victims.

(You must be held accountable because what you did was wrong. You took the lives of my family, my father, my cousin, and my sibling. Imagine a 12-year-old, completely innocent, and this is what happened.)

According to a police report, authorities were serving an arrest warrant against a certain Saddam Sadik for murder charges.

In a statement, the Police Regional Office 9 (PRO 9) said members of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines identified themselves as they were about to serve an arrest warrant, but they were suddenly fired upon.

Authorities then defended themselves, leading to an exchange of gunfire.

Meanwhile, an M16 rifle and a hand grenade were recovered from the crime scene.

The victims’ relatives, however, denied that those who were killed fought back.

“Binaril po nang walang kamalay-malay. Natutulog lang po sila. Hindi po sila nanlaban,” Alfad said.

(They were shot while they were asleep. They did not fight back.)

Authorities later confirmed that the suspect named in the warrant was not among the three killed or three injured and that the target was not inside the house.

The Zamboanga City local government has also coordinated with the police to closely monitor the incident.

“One thing is clear. The first one that they were looking for in the arrest warrant was not the same person who was killed. I don’t want to call it mistaken identity. Iba yung tao sa search warrant at yung biktima,” said Celso Lobgregat, secretary to the mayor.

Authorities are also investigating if the suspect has a connection with the family of the victims.

“We have created a special investigation task group. We cannot answer the questions yet since we are still investigating,” said Police Brigadier General Erwin Quilates, PRO9 regional director.

A personnel of the Commission on Human Rights also went to the crime scene to conduct an investigation. –Mariel Celine Serquiña/NB, GMA News