Shootout in Philippines kills 1 police officer, injures another

MANILA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) — A police officer has been killed and another wounded in a shootout during a raid of a house to rescue two kidnapped victims in Pampanga province, north of Manila, police said Sunday.
Police said the shooting erupted on Saturday afternoon when law enforcers broke into the hideout of the kidnap-for-ransom suspects who were keeping the victims in Angeles City.
Police Colonel Amado Mendoza said in a television interview that the police officer was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The wounded officer was recuperating from a gunshot wound in the hospital, he added.
Police Brigadier General Cosme Abrenica said that police located the house and launched the rescue operation.
Police recovered a pistol, a revolver handgun, several jungle knives and drug paraphernalia from the house. ■