| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Police report breakthrough |
| 2009-12-03 |
| [Straits Times] POLICE investigating the massacre of 57 people in the Philippines said on Wednesday they had made a breakthrough in the case that linked a gunman to a politician charged with masterminding the killings. Bullet shells found at the scene of the Nov 23 murders in the southern Philippines matched the gun of a militia member who was controlled by local mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, police said. 'Some of the empty shells that we recovered at the scene matched the gun recovered from the CVO (Civilian Volunteer Officer) who was arrested as he left the crime scene,' lead police investigator Ericson Velasquez told DZBB radio. Ampatuan Jr is the only person to have been charged with the killings, in which 100 of his gunmen allegedly participated, but Mr Velasquez indicated the new development would help police. 'This is a breakthrough,' Mr Velasquez said, referring to the results of the ballistics tests. 'We can now prove that the gun recovered from the suspect was used at the crime scene.' Mr Velasquez said other guns recovered from other members of the militia were also being tested. 'Our investigation showed that many guns were used in the commission of the crime,' he added. The investigator said the suspect, who, he did not name, was one of two militia members arrested at a police checkpoint near the massacre site in the province of Maguindanao shortly after the killings. |
| Posted by:Fred |