QCPD men deserves praise for immediately solving Ateneo murders
IT could have been the other way around if the doctor-gunman who killed three people and wounded two others inside the Ateneo de Manila University Campus in Quezon City last Sunday managed to escape and is still being hunted to date.
However, Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumul’s luck obviously run out when he was captured by members of the Q.C. Police District under Brigadier General Remus Medina amid a massive dragnet they launched to arrest the gunman.
Already, the QCPD has filed criminal charges for multiple murder and frustrated murder and violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013, RA 10883 or the New Anti-Carnapping Act of 2016 and malicious mischief against the general practitioner from Basilan before a Q.C. Prosecutor’s Office.
No matter what others, critics of the police force included will say, the senseless Ateneo gun attack has been solved with the gunman positively identified by witnesses arrested and jailed and the murder weapons recovered from his possession by the QCPD.
Kudos goes to the QCPD officers identified as Corporals Edlindo Selosa and Halie Kristne Ramos and Patrolman Rominic Mangulad whom, according to Brig. Gen. Medina arrested the fleeing suspect.
Those police officers literally risked their lives in going after the gunman who was armed with a caliber .45 semi-automatic pistol with a silencer and one 9mm Ruger pistol with several live ammunition. They deserve medals for their feat.
CCTV footages showed the QCPD policemen surrounding a bus and dragging the suspect outside before handcuffing him. An angry bystander was seen punching the gunman in the face before he was pacified by officers.
It could also had been another story if the ‘armed and dangerous suspect’ decided to fight it out with the QCPD personnel. If he is the kind of a ‘hindi pahuhuling buhay’ criminal, many more lives of civilians and the police could have been put to risk.
As it turned out, Yumol immediately fled the crime scene by blending with the crowd right after he shot the victims. He initially walked towards a tricycle terminal along B. Gonzales Street which was just a few meters away from Ateneo’s Gate 3.
He tried to board a tricycle but the driver was warned by a colleague that he is an armed man trying to escape from the police. When he tried but failed to get the tricycle key from the driver, he run towards the nearby Esteban Abada Street while already being chased by authorities.
Later, the suspect managed to steal a car in the area and used it in escaping towards Xavierville Avenue. In his haste to escape, the gunman hit another vehicle before going again to Katipunan Avenue heading towards Aurora Boulevard.
He later boarded a UV bus and was flagged down by the QCPD officers in front of the St. Joseph Shrine along Aurora Boulevard near the Anonas LRT Station. CCTV footage showed the policemen surrounding the vehicle and later dragging the gunman to the ground and handcuffing him.
PNP Officer-in-Charge, Lieutenant Gen. Vic Danao and NCRPO chief, Major Gen. Pipoy Natividad commended the QCPD for quickly solving the Ateneo incident with the arrest of the suspect in a hot pursuit operation.
Lt. Gen. Danao said that the QCPD on that fateful Sunday afternoon really showed what true police visibility is after it launched a massive hot pursuit operation which led in the arrest of the 38-year old suspect. He led the entire police force in condemning the gun attack as he assured that “the incident doesn’t represent the entire peace and order situation in the country.’
What is clear here is that the PNP in general and the QCPD in particular was on top of the situation last Sunday. Maximum police presence in the streets, not only due to PBBM’s 1st State-of-the-Nation-Address has been in place as Lt. Gen. Danao and DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos has ordered more policemen in public as part of their intensified anti-criminality campaign two weeks ago.
The fact that the three QCPD officers arrested the suspect along Aurora Boulevard is another proof that they are really performing their duties. I just can’t imagine what will happen if the gunman really managed to escape or killed more without the public seeing cops at the scene?
For his part, Maj. Gen. Natividad lauded the prompt response of the QCPD that resulted in the immediate arrest of the gunman who killed former Lamitan, Basilan Mayor Rosita Furigay, her executive assistant Victor George Capistrano and Ateneo security guard Jeneven Bandiola,37.
“With the alert presence of police personnel in the area due to our Full Alert Status in preparation for SONA 2022, in no time, operatives were able to arrest the suspect,” said the NCRPO chief.
Brig. Gen. Medina described the Ateneo case as an ‘isolated incident’ and not a case of an ‘active shooter’ just like what has been happening in many parts of the United States. Two others including a daughter of Furigay were also seriously wounded in the attack.
That incident should also prompt a review of the security measures in Ateneo and other universities and learning institutions nationwide. Supposed to be, campus guards must be very strict when it comes to people entering their areas with firearms and other deadly weapons.
There are many questions which need to be answered here: Are there single entry and exit points in the area? Are there built-in metal detectors just like in shopping malls and hotels in the area? Are the guards really trained to respond to such situation? Are the people in the area being patted for guns and other weapons? Will that incident change the students’ perception on the presence of uniformed policemen in their campuses specifically during major events?
As it turned out, the suspect easily entered ADMU with his guns by hiring a Grab taxi. He eventually mingled with the crowd while looking for his targets who were attending the Ateneo Law School graduation rites as the ex-mayor’s daughter was one of the graduating students.
After spotting the ex-mayor, the suspect who obviously was not frisked for any weapons by the campus guards immediately shot her at close range before firing at her daughter and executive assistant and the Ateneo guard. Pandemonium then broke loose as all people in the area scampered for safety.
Actually, it was my daughter, also an Ateneo graduate who informed me of the incident citing Facebook and Twitter posts by many of her friends, some of them near the area. It’s good to hear that after a few minutes, my friends in the force assured me that it was not a case of an ‘active shooter’ and that the suspect has been arrested already by the QCPD.
Nothing really would stop a determined assassin however, especially if he is claiming he has been aggrieved by the Furigays who filed 76 libel cases against him, preventing him from exercising his profession. It’s good that police immediately captured him. Our prayers too for the victims of this senseless gun attack.
