ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — A policeman staffing a coronavirus quarantine checkpoint in the southern Philippines killed a provincial police chief who criticized his long hair, police said Friday.
Security escorts for Sulu provincial police director Col. Michael Bawayan Jr. returned fire and killed the suspect at the checkpoint in Jolo town, a police report said.
Bawayan was conducting a routine check of police enforcement of quarantine regulations when he spotted police Staff Sgt. Imran Jilah’s long hair at the checkpoint in Jolo’s Asturias village, the report said.
Bawayan scolded Jilah and left. He later returned to the checkpoint from a nearby police camp with a pair of scissors. As he approached, Jilah opened fire at the police chief, who died while being taken to a hospital, the report said.
National police chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar ordered an investigation.
Police have been enforcing quarantine restrictions across the Philippines, which has had one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Southeast Asia.
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