LUBAO, Pampanga – A man armed with a gun and a knife who held several bus passengers hostage and fatally shot one of them here yesterday was gunned down by police after seven hours of negotiations, police said.
The Bataan-bound Genesis bus was cruising Jose Abad Santos Avenue (formerly the Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road) in Barangay Lourdes when the man, identified as Rey Digo, opened fire, causing panic among the 12 passengers, said Senior Superintendent Keith Ernald Singian, provincial police director.
Bus driver Raphy Pascual said he heard two shots and immediately pulled over and opened the bus doors to let passengers escape.
He said he and his conductor helped out a man with a bullet wound in the abdomen. Digo later freed another wounded man.
Pascual said 10 passengers were still inside the bus when its doors slammed shut – possibly triggered by a passenger accidentally pressing the door control button in the rush to escape.
Singian said Digo subsequently freed two girls and a woman from among the hostages. He said it was unclear what Digo wanted, although he was said to have had problems with his wife.
At about 6:30 p.m. yesterday, Kingian said operatives of the Special Weapon Action Team and Provincial Mobile Group took their chance and shot Digo, killing him on the spot with multiple bullet wounds.
Police diverted traffic away from the highway, which connects Pampanga to Bataan, where the bus was headed from Manila. – With AP