Gunman hijacks tourist bus in Philippines

[Shroom Man 777]

MANILA (AFP) - – An ex-policeman armed with a high-powered assault rifle hijacked a bus carrying more than 20 Hong Kong tourists including children in the Philippine capital on Monday, police said.

Six hostages, three of them children, were released by the gunman about three hours after the drama began.

The policeman was discharged in 2008 for his alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion, and was demanding to be reinstated, police said.

"There are children and adults on the bus," Metro Manila police commander Director Leocadio Santiago said on DZBB radio as the drama was being played out live on national television.

"He is armed with an M-16 assault rifle," he added.

A national police statement said at least 22 tourists from Hong Kong were on board the bus. The statement said that, aside from the driver, they were believed to be the only people aboard the bus.

About three hours after the stand-off began, the ex-policemen released six people, including three children, with the drama being aired live on national television.

Santiago identified the suspect as Rolando Mendoza, a decorated former police senior inspector before he was accused and relieved of his post.

National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said the bus has been isolated and police had deployed commandos in the area, and that talks with the gunman had begun.

"Negotiations are ongoing," Cruz told reporters.

Live television footage showed the bus parked in front of a grandstand at Rizal Park, a popular tourist destination just several blocks from the police headquarters.

Children could be seen peeking from the drawn curtains as a lone police negotiator hovered near the scene.

The hostage-taking came hours after a South Korean man was killed in a separate attack by gunmen elsewhere in Manila. Police said the incidents were not related.

Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said that the bus was operated by a Hong Thai, a Hong Kong-based travel agency.

The national police statement confirming the tourists were from Kong Kong corrected earlier statements by police that they were South Koreans.

The incident brought back memories of a similar hostage taking in 2007, when a troubled civil engineer armed with a grenade took over a bus and took 30 kindergarten students hostage but freed them after a 10-hour standoff with police.

That hijacking happened near Manila city hall, just off Rizal Park.

God. When it rains, it pours. Not a good week for the Philippine police. Their guys get caught yanking people's dicks with ropes, and now ex-employees are hijacking tourist buses full of kiddies. Man. What a way to start a week. I bet by Friday the police force will be on strike, and maybe Manila will get sold to corporations that want to turn it into a Delta City or something.

Also, I swear, there was a Bruce Willis movie where he was a rogue cop who held up a bus full of people.

[Shroom Man 777]

The bus driver got out. He says all the hostages are dead. The police are storming the bus and smashing the windows with sledgehammers.

[Shroom Man 777]

The police are just sitting outside the bus, they can't even go inside

Minutes have passed after they tried smashing windows with hammers.

And, uh, they're still outside the bus.

They've all got pistols. Hah.

EDIT:

Ok, they have M16s. But they're still outside, and are still slamming sledgehammers on the back window.

[Shroom Man 777]

I feel ashamed and disgusted. They're still trying to break the door with sledgehammers. There is no movement from inside the bus. The cop's sledgehammer went inside the bus when he swung it. Um, he reached in and pulled his hammer out. Jesus.

[Siege]

It's live on CNN now. They just had the police chief inspector on and to be frankly honest, he didn't sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer. Of course he's probably also got other things to deal with right now than answer questions from nosy reporters from CNN Hong Kong.

Apparently there's still shooting going on, but CNN (including the Australian woman at the scene) cannot tell if they're coming from inside the bus.

[Zixinus]

I think it says something that the guy took hostages with violence and expected to be brought back to the police for doing so.

This is tragedy. If I understood Shroom right, it is possible that several of the hostages are now dead and the police can't do a thing about it.

[Shroom Man 777]

There was a burst of rapid fire from the bus. And, um, I don't know what. A civilian got hit by stray bullet.

[Zixinus]

Did the madman cover up the bus's windows'? According to my military handbook, this is one of the situations where snipers are called, so why are they sending in commandos?

[Siege]

The curtains of the bus are indeed drawn, so snipers wouldn't be an option unless they have some real fancy IR gear, which I doubt the Philippines' police are equipped with. What I do find kind of baffling (aside from the fact that most officers on the scene don't seem to be wearing any kind of bulletproof vests) is that the 'special action team' as CNN calls them were briefly inside, and then backed the hell out of the bus, and now seem to be just kind of sitting there. If the guy is still alive (which seems to be the case) they should of course proceed very carefully, M-16s being nothing to sneeze at, but at some point they have to get in there somehow...

EDIT: Yeah, more gunfire. The CNN journo has to take cover.

[Shroom Man 777]

The hostage taker is now hanging out of the door. Dead.

Some hostages came out! A woman! And a guy!

[Ilya Muromets]

A fifth of the hostages coming out now. At least some are still alive.

[Ilya Muromets]

Five hostages out by their own power. Stretches for the rest; number dead or injured unknown so far.

[Ritterin Sophia]

I like how an M16 is a 'high-power' assault rifle.

[Shroom Man 777]

We cal them Armalites.

Anyway, now it's over. Commercial breaks, and then we worry about tourism revenues.

[Ypoknons]

We've been following it quite closely on this side, it is a Hong Kong tour group and Hong Thai's one of the big tour companies around here. But from TVB/HK Cable, not CNN. The Chinese embassy must have seized on the driver's report by mistake, since they told us 'everyone was dead' just before the hostages started getting out.

[Shroom Man 777]

Seven dead tourists so far, from the hospital reports.

[Ypoknons]

Heard on the 'news at an live interview Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was putting out a 'black' travel advisory against the Philippines. Seems to be unwarranted, it was a lone gunman. Then again, everyone watched it live and were pretty unhappy with speed of the police response...

7 confirmed deaths right now. Sad story, really.

[Samuel]

God. When it rains, it pours. Not a good week for the Philippine police. Their guys get caught yanking people's dicks with ropes, and now ex-employees are hijacking tourist buses full of kiddies. Man. What a way to start a week. I bet by Friday the police force will be on strike, and maybe Manila will get sold to corporations that want to turn it into a Delta City or something.

Also, I swear, there was a Bruce Willis movie where he was a rogue cop who held up a bus full of people.

16 Blocks.

Also, why did the hostage taker think the police would take him back if he hijacked a bus? Is the Philpines that messed up or was he just nuts? Even if they gave into his demands when he left the bus they could have just shot him.

[Kanastrous]

Also, I swear, there was a Bruce Willis movie where he was a rogue cop who held up a bus full of people.

I believe you're thinking of the Dennis Hopper/Keaneau Reeves movie: The Bus that Couldn't Stop.

[Shroom Man 777]

Heard on the 'news at an live interview Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was putting out a 'black' travel advisory against the Philippines. Seems to be unwarranted, it was a lone gunman. Then again, everyone watched it live and were pretty unhappy with speed of the police response...

7 confirmed deaths right now. Sad story, really.

I'm pretty unhappy at the fact that of all the hostages he could've taken, he took Chinese ones. I mean, they're the worst fucking people to piss off (and if they were watching, and they were, then seeing our stupid cops hit the door repeatedly with a hammer for thirty minutes while other cops just sat there) since they're the richest nation in the area, and also the biggest and most powerful. It would've been fine if it was Malaysia or Singapore or Indonesia cause, no offense, but they're not that important. Even South Koreans or Japanese, sure. I mean, it would've been best if the hostages were other Filipinos since if that was the case, nobody would even care at all. But Chinese. Jesus. Fuck.

They were not happy with how it was handled. Then again, nobody was. It was a horrible, horrible joke. The international community was watching us, and all they saw were a bunch of shitheads who couldn't even hammer their way through a bus door, who took ages to figure out the emergency door, who had their hammer fall inside the bus and shit (he did reach in and pick his hammer up). Fuck.

I bet they decided to blacklist the Philippines when they saw that part.

16 Blocks.

Also, why did the hostage taker think the police would take him back if he hijacked a bus? Is the Philpines that messed up or was he just nuts? Even if they gave into his demands when he left the bus they could have just shot him.

The guy was a cop too. You can ask the same question to all hostage takers, it either ends with people dying or people going to jail, yet they still try.

[generator_g1]

One of the reasons stated on the news was the gunman went apeshit when he saw on the bus's TV that the police rounded up relatives of his for no apparent reason other than to blackmail him into surrendering.

They should have instituted some kind of news blackout as not to give gunman any ideas on what they were to do, considering the guy was formerly a cop to.....

[Kanastrous]

Kind of wondering why they didn't just tell him yeah, sure, all is forgiven, got your badge and gun waiting for you right here outside the bus, presidential pardon's on the way - then just put a few slugs in him when he stepped out of the bus to collect his reward...

[generator_g1]

I bet they decided to blacklist the Philippines when they saw that part.

HK has already issued travel advisories telling HK citizens to avoid the Philippines. There are also some rumblings among the local Phil forums of HK revoking the 14 day visa free privilege of people coming from the Phil.

[Shroom Man 777]

One of the reasons stated on the news was the gunman went apeshit when he saw on the bus's TV that the police rounded up relatives of his for no apparent reason other than to blackmail him into surrendering.

They should have instituted some kind of news blackout as not to give gunman any ideas on what they were to do, considering the guy was formerly a cop to.....

Yeah, they dragged his brother into a police car right on TV.

8 dead.

Our President is having a press conference. He is blathering a lot. I think they're right about him being mentally ill.

[generator_g1]

Our President is having a press conference. He is blathering a lot. I think they're right about him being mentally ill.

A few more fuck-ups like these and he would probably be facing impeachment or even a military coup even before his term ends.

Those approval ratings, his advisers keep on bragging about, is probably swirling down the drain....