Manila police precinct strafed

By Ronron
March 25, 2008

A police precinct in Manila City was strafed before dawn Tuesday by an unidentified gunman, damaging its glass door, an official said.

Manila Police District (MPD) Station 8 commander Supt. Jimmy Tiu said the Palanca Community Precinct of his unit came under fire at around 3:10 am yesterday while there were two policemen inside.

Tiu said the suspect used a suspected caliber 9mm pistol in the attack, hitting twice the glass door of the precinct.

Fortunately, none between PO2 Arthur Fortes and PO1 Ismael Nor who were both inside, were hurt, he said.

“Our assessment is that was more of a scare tactic by criminals in the Islamic Center who are being affected by our continuous campaign against criminality like illegal drugs and unlicensed firearms,” Tiu said.

“But this just challenges us more to do our job, instead of getting scared,” he added.

Tiu said Fortes and Nor fired their guns after the attack, but it was more of to drive off the suspect. “They fired their guns in the upward direction,” he said.

Tiu said that at that time, there were four policemen on duty. The two others, however, were on patrol when the incident happened.

He said some policemen from the station headquarters were immediately deployed to the precinct after the incident for reinforcement purposes./DMS