Injured	Killed
2	3

Date: 09 September 2013
Source: GMA News

At least three people were killed while two were seriously wounded in a predawn robbery at a drive-in hotel in Batangas City early Wednesday.

City police chief Superintendent Nicolas Torre III said three men staged the robbery, killing the hotel cashier and wounding two roomboys.

Responding policemen and the hotel owner shot dead two of the robbers, he said.

“May ID ang isang [suspek na] namatay, may security guard license na galing Laguna. Ang (suspek na nabuhay) galing Laguna [rin],” Torre said in an interview on dzBB radio. He did not immediately name the two suspects.

A separate report from Batangas provincial police spokesman Senior Insp. Dwight Fonte said the incident happened at the Elrichland Travel Lodge located in Barangay Sorosoro Karsada.

Torre said the hotel guests were evacuated and offered alternative accommodation.

Shootout

Citing initial reports, he said the incident occurred at about 2:30 a.m. He said the owner of the hotel learned of the incident when he was heading for Batangas Port but forgot something from the hotel and called the front desk.

No one answered his call at first, but after several attempts, someone picked up the phone and he heard gunshots and the female cashier crying for help.

“Dali siyang bumalik, pagbalik sa driveway nakarinig siya ng sunud-sunod na putok,” Torre said.

As the owner approached the hotel, he encountered the three men about to leave the area aboard two motorcycles.

The hotel owner fired his handgun at the three and fatally shot one of them in the driveway. The other two ran back inside the hotel, prompting the owner to call police.

When police arrived, one of the two remaining suspects tried to flee but was captured in a cordon operation. The other tried to shoot it out with the police but was killed.

“Ang cashier na babae na namatay, tinamaan sa tiyan at ulo. Ang dalawang room boy, hogtied,” Torre said.

He described the condition of the two room boys as “agaw buhay.”

Recovered from the scene were three cal-.45 pistols, Torre said. — LBG, GMA News