Washed It!

Reporting from Seoul and Zamboanga City, Philippines — In a desperate act to regain his job, a disgruntled ex-police officer on Monday hijacked a busload of Hong Kong tourists in Manila, prompting a 12-hour drama that ended with seven captives and the suspect being killed, authorities said.

Much of the episode played out in the pouring rain as authorities surrounded the bus, a maneuver that snarled traffic.

In the end, the gunman, former police Capt. Rolando Mendoza, was killed by a sniper shot to the head and body near the front door of the bus where he staked out a last-stand battle with 30 police commandos, who moved in with tear gas and flash bombs. He injured one sniper before his death, police said.

“The hostage-taker was killed. He chose to shoot it out with our men,” police Col. Nelson Yabut told reporters. “On our first assault, Capt. Mendoza was sprawled in the middle of the aisle and shot one of our operatives. On our second assault we killed him.”

Police said they stormed the vehicle when Mendoza opened fire on the hostages. Several captives were seen crawling out the back door of the bus during the gunfight.

As the standoff came to an end, police vehicles and ambulances converged on the tourist bus. Seven hostages were confirmed dead, one hostage was hospitalized in critical condition, and five others were unharmed. The condition of two other hostages was unknown late Monday.

The standoff began earlier in the day when Mendoza, a 55-year-old dismissed police officer, seized the bus armed with a M16 rifle, demanding to be reinstated on the force.

Mendoza was among five officers charged with robbery and extortion after a Manila hotel chef filed a complaint alleging the policemen falsely accused him of using drugs to extort money, according to 2008 newspaper reports.

The gunman released nine hostages in the afternoon, denying the allegations against him. In a live interview with a local radio station, Mendoza threatened to kill the remaining 15 captives unless he got his job back.

“I can see there are many SWAT teams arriving, they are all around,” Mendoza said in Tagalog. “I know they will kill me, I’m telling them to leave because anytime I will do the same here.”

As night closed in, negotiators lost hope of a peaceful conclusion to the standoff. Finally, police said, commandoes stormed the bus after they saw Mendoza open fire on the hostages as the bus driver jumped out a window, fleeing in panic.

Earlier in the night, policemen arrested a brother of the hostage-taker, Gregorio Mendoza. He had reportedly been dispatched to convince the suspect to surrender but was later accused of instigating his brother, according to Director Leocadio Santiago, chief of police forces in the National Capital Region.

The arrest of Mendoza’s older brother may have prompted the gunman to shoot the hostages, police say. Moments after the brother’s arrest, several shots rang inside the bus.

“His problem was he was unjustly removed from service. There was no due process, no hearing, no complaint,” Gregorio Mendoza told reporters as he was surrounded by police.

A handwritten message was left stuck to the bus door. “Big mistake to correct,” it read, “a big wrong decision.”

Later, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang criticized Philippine authorities for mishandling of the siege, whose violent last moments were broadcast on live television.

john.glionna@latimes.com

Times staff writer Glionna reported from Seoul and special correspondent Jacinto from Zamboanga City.
7 hostages killed in Manila bus hijacking

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