ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) is investigating the identity of a gunman who rescued two drug suspects from police custody here and wounded two police officers in the process around 4:47 a.m. Thursday.
Police said the gunman opened fire on SSgt. Bobby Judan and Cpl. Nicolo Leon Luna III, both of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit-9 (RDEU-9), as they were leaving the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) along with the two drug suspects they arrested earlier.
Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director, said that prior to the incident, the RDEU-9 operatives arrested Jonar Jul-Asri, 25, and his younger brother, Moner, 24, in an anti-drug operation around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday in Barangay Zambowood here.
Ylagan said the brothers, who yielded six packs of suspected shabu and other pieces of evidence, were brought to the government-owned ZCMC for medico-legal examination.
However, the police official said a lone unidentified gunman appeared from nowhere and opened fire on the RDEU-9 operatives, fleeing with the two suspects on a waiting van.
Ylagan said one of the police officers managed to return fire.
Luna who sustained gunshot wounds at the back of his head, and Judan who was hit near his throat, were rushed to the emergency room of the ZCMC for treatment.
Recovered from the crime scene were 11 empty shells of a 9-mm and .45-caliber pistol. (PNA)
