Mindanaotoday.com | Suspect in 2009 Maguindanao massacre slain in shootout
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao – For allegedly resisting arrest, a man wanted for his alleged involvement in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre was killed during a shootout with the authorities here, police said Friday.
Col. Jibin Bongayao, Maguindanao police director, said members of the elite Police Special Action Force (SAF) were about to serve the arrest warrant against Surin Mentang in Barangay Satan Thursday when the shootout erupted.
“Mentang resisted arrest and opened fire on the approaching lawmen, triggering a 10-minute firefight that left him dead and a civilian injured,” Bongcayao said.
Bongayao said the SAF team was backed by the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion.
Mentang succumbed to several bullet wounds in the body.
His death came a day after the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested another suspect in the same massacre incident inside the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao compound in Cotabato City.
The suspect, Harris Ampatuan Macapendeng, who is the village chair of Barangay Tuayan in Datu Hofer town, carries a PHP300,000 reward on his head.
Macapendeng did not resist arrest. (PNA)