RESPONDING police operatives rescued a 5-year-old boy while the unidentified armed suspect who took him hostage was killed in Barangay Banca-Banca, San Rafael, Bulacan Monday night.
Based on the initial investigation, the hostage taking occurred around 6:30 pm when an unidentified suspect armed with a .38 caliber revolver suddenly entered the boy’s house without the knowledge of the parents identified as Richard Balino, 29 years old, and her live-in partner Judith Buensalida, 26 years old.
According to P/Lt. Col. Ferdinand Germino, chief of the San Rafael Police Station, the suspect was allegedly under the influence of drugs.
Upon entering the house, the suspect grabbed the child who was playing at the living room and threatened to kill the boy if anyone attempted to take the child from him.
The hostage-taking incident was immediately reported by the parents to the police station, to which police operatives led by Col. Germino quickly responded.
He said negotiations to rescue the child between the suspect and the police quickly ensued. A crisis management team was immediately formed, which consists of police personnel, a hostage negotiator, barangay officials, medics, even members of the media, and the victim’s family.
Col. Germino said that the negotiations lasted for more than three hours where the suspect also started to become violent and tried to hurt the child.
While the police were in position, the suspect fired at them and the child was dropped by the suspect wherein the police authorities wasted no time and returned fire causing the death of the suspect.
The victim, who was taken to the hospital for a medical examination, was safely returned to his parents, according to Col Germino but the boy and the parents will undergo a post-traumatic stress disorder briefing by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regarding any possible trauma they suffered during the incident.
MAIN PHOTO: A Scene Of the Crime Operative (SOCO) examine the body of the unidentified suspect who took hostage a 5-year old boy. The suspect was killed after a three-and-a-half-hour hostage-taking incident in Barangay Banca-Banca, San Rafael, Bulacan on Monday night. Photo courtesy of San Rafael Police Station.