Police shoot ‘mentally ill’ man seen with firearm
POLICE shot to death a mentally ill man after he allegedly brandished his firearm in public and ran amok in Barangay Poblacion in Carmen, northern Cebu.
Narciso Taoy succumbed to gunshot wounds in the left arm and his chest.
Before the incident at 8 p.m. last Saturday, a resident reported to the police station that Taoy was armed and threatened the people in the town plaza.
The alert team, com- posed of PO2 Ralph Laurel, PO1 Stephen Baltunado, and PO1 Marlito Durano, rushed to the area.
When they arrived in the plaza, they saw Taoy with a gun, crossing the national highway toward the St. Augustine de Hippo Church.
Gun
The officers gave chase. Laurel later shouted, asking Taoy to stop and drop his gun.
Taoy ignored the officer. He faced the police team, raised his hand and aimed his gun at Laurel. Taoy fired at Taoy.
Laurel, investigation showed, only shot Taoy once in the left arm. The slug tore through the arm and pierced Taoy’s chest.
The officers shoved Taoy in the patrol car and brought him to Cebu Provincial Hospital in Danao City, where the attending doctor declared him dead on arrival.
An unlicensed .38 revolver still loaded with four bullets was recovered by Laurel’s team.
Last Sunday afternoon, suspected drug pusher Bryan Cartel Vergara landed in the hospital after he was shot by one of the two men on board a motorcycle in Barangay Balud, Dalaguete.
Vergara suffered wounds in his arms and in the face.
Investigators still have no idea about the identities of the culprits, who wore bonnets to cover their faces.