Three people were killed while three others were injured after the service of arrest warrants resulted in a shootout in Barangay Sinunuc, Zamboanga City, on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

According to the Police Regional Office-Zamboanga (PRO-9), police officers and military troops were supposed to serve multiple arrest warrants for murder to a certain member of an armed group, who was monitored to be in the area.

However, when government forces introduced themselves as members of the police and military, unidentified individuals reportedly opened fire, prompting them to retaliate in self-defense.

A brief exchange of fire ensued, leaving three individuals dead and three others wounded.

The fatalities were identified as a 52-year-old man, his 12-year-old son, and his 22-year-old nephew. Three other family members who were in another room sustained injuries during the incident.

“When they were fired upon, they just employed necessary and reasonable force. They just fired back pero matagal yung palitan ng putok. Tumagal siya ng more or less 5 minutes,” PRO-9 Spokesperson, Major Shella Chang, said.

Seized from the area were an M16 rifle and a hand grenade. The subject of the warrants reportedly managed to escape and is now being pursued.

Police are still investigating how the subject of the warrants is connected to the family inside the house where the shootout occurred.

The barangay said the possibility of mistaken identity cannot be ruled out just yet.

“Posibilidad, mistaken identity,” Barangay Sinunuc Chairwoman Pilarica Ledesma said.

The victims’ family is calling for justice, believing that the incident was intentional.

“Pag-open ng pintuan walang kahit anung sinabi pinatay agad… hindi shootout kung shootout sana kahit isa lang eh lahat sila diyan pati yung babae pati bata,” a member of the victims’ family said.

However, police maintained that the house was the target of the operation based on months of intelligence monitoring.

PRO-9 also insisted that the operation was carried out in accordance with police operational procedures, and assured the public that a thorough and impartial investigation has been conducted to determine the circumstances of the incident.

“Lahat ng pangyayari, documents, pati na yung body-worn cameras will be used for that investigation,” Chang said.