CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 28 Nov) – A policeman was killed while 16 others, including nine students and two teachers, were wounded when a truck owner exploded a grenade inside a school in the municipality of Initao in Misamis Oriental on Thursday.
Initao, Misamis Oriental. Map courtesy of Google
Brig. Gen. Rolando Anduyan, PNP-10 regional director, said the suspect—identified as Ibrahim Ampaso Bashir, 56, resident of Madalum town, Lanao del Sur—also died in the incident.
Anduyan said the lone police fatality, Master Sgt. Jason Magno, died as he tried to pick up the grenade thrown by Bashir beside the covered court of the Initao College in Barangay Jampason.
He said Master Sgt. Alice Balido, who shot Bashir several times to stop him, was wounded.
Lt. Colonel Mardy Hortillosa, PNP 10 spokesperson, identified the wounded students as Jasper Abcede, 22; Allan Bahian, 22; Hermorie Poblete, 18; Jomark Maglangit, 24; Acmad Panadato, 21; Junedy Bagares, 19; Anne Pauline Panoril, 22; Reinheart Patusan, 25; and Jay-ar Neri. The injured teachers were Nestor Oblimar, 63; and Ry Sanny Galaroza, 26.
The others wounded were DENR personnel Tito Bagares, 56; fish vendor Lino Jalagat, 24; Jolly Tacbobo, 42; and Jesel Bulaybulay, 14.
The wounded were reportedly brought to the Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospital in Initao for treatment.
Anduyan said Bashir’s truck was earlier intercepted for carrying shipment of illegally cut lumber. The suspect then went to the local office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to have his truck released.
Bashir, said the police officer, threatened a DENR personnel with a grenade and a small knife.
DENR employee Gerald Rosabal said they received a phone call from their colleagues that there was a man who threatened them with a grenade and a knife.
“We could hear the shouts of our colleagues.
They were scared,” Rosabal narrated.
He said the DENR personnel saw a chance to get out from their office and ran toward the Initao College that was located a few hundred meters away.
Anduyan said the Initao police station received a call about the situation and sent Magno and Balido to assist.
Video footages from mobile phones shown in social networks showed Bashir walking back and forth in the campus and trying to enter one of the rooms.
He later walked into the covered court where a man wearing a blue cap met him and tried to grab the grenade by applying Aikido techniques on the suspect.
An explosion was heard as the two grappled on the concrete floor.
It was later learned that the man with a blue cap is a teacher, Nestor Oblimar, who was among those wounded.
Policewoman Balido was later seen firing at Bashir with her pistol. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
