The serving of an arrest warrant turned bloody as the target and his companions resisted arrest enforced by a combined force of police and Marine troops who carried out the operation at Sitio Lalaog, Semba village of Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao del Norte at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
Lt. Colonel Jopy Ventura, spokesperson for Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PROBAR), said that the target of the operation was Samsudin Usman alias Sammy and Krega, who is facing charges for murder, illegal firearms possession, and resistance and disobedience to a person in authority.
The police officers and Marine troops approached Usman’s residence to serve the warrant when gunfire erupted, prompting them to retaliate.
Usman was killed on the spot, while one of his companions, identified only as alias Piong, was critically wounded and later died in the hospital.
Another cohort, Barry Usman, was arrested at the scene.
Three law enforcers were injured in the gun battle. They are Police Capt. Sammy Paning, deputy chief of the Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police station, Corporal Marson Quijano, and Private Alex Bajoyo, both from the Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 5.
The Provincial Mobile Force Company, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 14, MLBT 5, and other police and military units provided support to the operations.
Several items were recovered from the suspect, including a Bushmaster rifle, a magazine, a handheld radio, and 10 heat-sealed sachets of suspected meth worth P34,000.
Recovered from Barry Usman were an M16 rifle, a caliber .45 pistol, magazines, an airsoft rifle, and two heat-sealed sachets of suspected meth.
Usman is now detained at Datu Odin Sinsuat police station, while the three wounded are now recuperating at a local hospital