Man shot defending friends who abandoned him

FOR STANDING up for his friends, a barangay security officer in Quezon City now faces frustrated murder and direct assault charges after he shot a policeman out to arrest them on Friday. However, Lizandro Pre, along with PO2 Edward Rey Paggabao of the Quezon City Police District's (QCPD) Fairview station, also ended up in the hospital for gunshot wounds. Pre was earlier placed under arrest after he fired at a four-member police team which was about to serve his friends Elmer Fajarito and Angel Villanueva with an arrest warrant on robbery charges. Case investigator PO2 Rhic Pittong of the QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit said that Paggabao and three other policemen went to Champaca West Street in Barangay Pasong Putik to arrest Fajarito and Villanueva. When the two men who were also armed were spotted in front of Pre's house, the lawmen introduced themselves but the suspects drew their guns and fired first, hitting Paggabao in the chest. A shoot-out ensued with Pre getting hit in the abdomen as his friends abandoned him and escaped.