Operatives of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) arrested another suspect in the ambush of a photojournalist and his relatives in Barangay Masambong, Quezon City last June 29.
QCPD Director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said the suspect, Jomari Dela Cruz, 24, Poblacion, Muntinlupa City, was arrested in a bus terminal in Cubao, Quezon City on Thursday afternoon, July 13.
On June 29, the victims - Joshua Abiad, 37, an online photographer of Remate; Renato Abiad, 41; and two minors, aged four and eight, were ambushed and shot by five men while they were inside their car with their three other relatives along Corumi Street, Barangay Masambong at around 3:50 p.m. A bystander, identified as Jeffrey Cao, 47, also sustained a gunshot wound.
The wounded victims were brought to a hospital for treatment. The wounded four-year-old later succumbed to his injuries.
The suspects fled towards Del Monte Avenue onboard a motorcycle and a silver Toyota Vios vehicle after the incident.
The QCPD launched a dragnet operation and investigation to locate, identify, and look into the motive of the suspects.
Report showed that the QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) conducted a follow-up operation on Thursday after receiving information from a confidential informant that Dela Cruz will be arriving at Solid North Transit Bus Terminal along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), in Cubao after hiding in Pangasinan.
Surveillance in the area was conducted by the police at 4:30 p.m. and arrested Dela Cruz after they spotted him walking in front of the bus terminal.
Seized from him were a caliber 9mm pistol and eight rounds of live ammunition and one magazine placed in his gray sling bag.
His involvement in the shooting incident has yet to be disclosed by authorities.
Police said that Dela Cruz is now under the custody of the CIDU together with Eduardo Almario Legyazpi II, 31, of Alabang, Muntinlupa City, one of the alleged gunmen in the ambush of the victims.
Almario was arrested by the QCPD at his residence on Friday, July 7, after a series of backtracking and investigation.
On Wednesday, July 12, the police also recovered the silver Toyota Vios used by the suspects as their getaway vehicle in Nueva Ecija.
Dela Cruz will be charged for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, police said.
A manhunt operation is currently being conducted for the arrest of the other suspects.
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