Cop killed in front of his house in Pasig City

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – A cop assigned to the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) was shot and killed as he was helping his wife get off their van in front of their house in Pasig City just before midnight Thursday, November 29.

Pasig police said Police Officer II (PO2) Manuel Melendres III, 48, was about to open the door of their Starex van for his wife when he was gunned down.

Melendres was on the drug watch list of the Pasig police, said Pasig police chief Senior Superintendent Rizalito Gapas on Sunday, December 2.

Gapas said, however, that authorities have not gotten evidence linking Melendrez’s death to illegal drugs. 

Melendres’ wife told Senior Police Officer II Ricardo Alapitan, case investigator of the Eastern Police District, that they had just arrived at their house in Melendres Compound, Barangay Caniogan, around 11:45 pm.

She told investigators that they came from the market. 

“Before the killing, they went to the market. Little did they know, a killer was waiting for their return,” Alapitan said in Filipino.

The wife recalled she had yet to get out of the van when she heard gunshots. Only when she stepped outside did she realize that someone shot her husband.

She said she did not see the gunman.

They brought her husband to the nearest hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.

Investigators recovered 3 spent shells of a still unidentified type of gun from the crime scene.

The police said they have already asked nearby establishments for video of their closed-circuit television (CCTV). Police are still determining the motive behind the killing. – Rappler.com