The alleged accomplice of a self-confessed gunman involved in the October 2022 shooting of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid shot himself while a warrant of arrest was being served in Batangas, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Sunday.

In an interview with dzBB, NCRPO Regional Director Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez said Nartatez said that while they were serving the arrest warrant against the suspect, known as Jake Mendoza, early in the morning, he held his live-in partner and his child hostage, then shot himself.

Mendoza is suspected of planning and co-conspiring with Joel Escorial, the gunman who confessed to shooting Lapid.

“When we were serving the warrant of arrest, we knew he was armed and dangerous, so we employed the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) of Calabarzon and he held out. He did not surrender. In fact, he held his live-in partner and his little child hostage,” Nartatez said.

“His relatives were negotiating with him to release his live-in partner and his child. While negotiating, minutes after that, when they were released, he shot himself in front of the negotiator, the barangay captain, and his cousin,” he added.

Nartatez said Mendoza’s testimony could have helped with Lapid’s case.

He said they had identified four main suspects, including Escorial, brothers Israel and Edmund Dimaculang, and Mendoza.

He added that they were looking for three to five more suspects. Jaspearl Tan/DMS