Hired killers slain in daring daylight ambush in Manila

Aday after their arrest, two self-confessed hired killers were killed in an ambush by unknown assailants while on board a police mobile Tuesday afternoon.

The fatalities, identified as Apolonio Flores and Prince Patrick Cortez, were being brought back to the Sampaloc Police Station after attending Inquest proceedings at Manila City Hall when three pairs of unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects tailed and blocked the police mobile while traversing Fajardo Street corner Lacson Avenue in Sampaloc, Manila past 4 p.m. of Feb. 26.

A few minutes later, four of the six suspects armed with guns alighted from their vehicles and ordered Police Officer 1 (PO1) Joven Miguel and PO2 Mark De Lima to get down and surrender their service firearms.

The assailants opened fire at Flores and Cortez, who were both seated at the back, and sped away.

“We are looking at all possible angles. We will not give details in the meantime while we are conducting backtracking,” Sampaloc Police Station Senior Insp. Philipp Ines said.

Flores was about to shoot someone when he was nabbed in a motorcycle repair shop in Sampaloc District at around 2:45 p.m. on Feb. 25 following a tip from a concerned citizen.

Cortez, who served as Flores’ middleman, was accosted in Tondo in a follow-up operation on the same day.

A gun and a grenade were seized from them.

Both had admitted being affiliated with a gun for hire group, police said.