Breaking News - Tour Bus Held Hostage

[UZI]

Of course you can always say IF this or IF that then THIS. The Russians thought pumping gas into a theater would knock out everyone including the gunmen. Instead they killed most of the hostages.What about the sniper shot then:

That ended well huh.. Shoot 1st mop up later.Or:

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- A police sniper fired the shot that killed a woman being held hostage by a murder suspect during a three-day standoff, authorities said Tuesday. The sniper was aiming for hostage-taker Jamie Dean Petron when Andrea Hall, 40, was hit, said Orlando Police Chief Jerry Demings. LINK

What about the negotiated approach used yesterday (ie the European way), try reading this & changing GERMAN for PHILIPPINE:

German police stormed a hijacked bus today to end a seven hour hostage drama without bloodshed.They freed the remaining six hostages held by a man armed with a pistol.Police captured the hijacker, who had freed most of his hostages after stopping the bus on an autobahn south of Hanover, spokesman Walter Wollott said.The hijacker was not injured in the storming, officials said.The man armed hijacked a bus in the northern city of Bremen, taking 18 passengers, including children, hostage and leading police on a cross-country chase.The hijacker took a seat behind the driver, and with a gun trained on his back forced the bus onto the autobahn, with police cars and ambulances trailing at a distance.After about two hours, the hijacker stopped the bus on the autobahn south of Hanover, a distance of about 75 miles, and began negotiating with authorities. He asked for water, a mobile phone and a replacement bus driver and he demanded to talk to Bremen’s mayor. His motives remained unclear.The hijacker gradually freed 10 passengers after stopping, including a man suffering from faintness who police initially said had escaped. Three passengers were freed or managed to flee at the start of the drama.Several children were among the last remaining captives, Wollott said.Police said the hijacker fired a shot, but the circumstances were unclear and authorities said they had no reports of injuries.Police cars ringed the halted bus on a six-lane stretch and authorities closed off the autobahn in both directions near the town of Algermissen, causing huge traffic jams.The hijacker was described by witnesses as a man with Mediterranean features aged about 20 to 25It was Germany’s second bus hijacking in two weeks.On April 11, an armed ex-convict commandeered a Berlin bus after a bank robbery. Police stormed the bus after more than four hours, shooting the hijacker in the shoulder and freeing his last two hostages unharmed. LINK

No one way is correct. The individual circumstances should be assessed. Maybe the sniper shot would have worked maybe the negotiated way would have ended like the German one. What we DO know is that it ended with 17 survivors. Did the PNP botch the the siege - yes, like the 2 snipers botched their jobs. Remember the FBI siege at Waco.I am NOT saying the end yesterday was the correct one. I too thought it was a farce BUT up until 6pm all WAS going well & could have ended with the letter from the ombudsman if not for the mess with the brother being aired to all.IMHOUzi.

[stef]

The UK's Foreign Office has now confirmed that two of the survivors are British nationals.

[stef]

In Hong Kong a "black" travel warning has been raised, which urges all travel to the Philippines to be cancelled and calls on Hong Kong people in the Philippines to leave as soon as possible.

[stef]

Statement of President Aquino on the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis (philstar.com) Updated August 24, 2010 09:33 AM Comments (160) With the rest of the Filipino people, I wish to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were lost in the hostage situation at the Quirino Grandstand. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs has conveyed our deep feelings of sorrow to the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China and the people of Hong Kong through Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang. I have tasked Secretaries Soliman and Lim to provide everything necessary for the recovery and return home of the survivors. I have directed the fullest cooperation with the Hong Kong authorities on the part of our officials.From the onset of this incident, the hostage-taker seemed to not be belligerent, as shown by the release of hostages. These were encouraging signs.We were going to wait him out. The idea was to let the ground commanders who are the experts in this field handle the operation with minimal interference from people who are less expert.But the situation deteriorated rapidly when, during the course of the negotiations, he was given the letter of the Ombudsman in which she promised to personally review his case. As he was reading the contents of the letter, while talking to an unknown individual on the phone, he became increasingly agitated.The presence of his brother also added to the tension.At this point, he threatened to kill a hostage. The police decided to remove the brother from the scene. As the negotiators were departing, the negotiators were shot at.Media coverage of his brother being taken into custody further agitated the hostage-taker.Shots were fired. They seemed to be warning shots, as there was no audible indication of tumult or chaos to show that the hostages were in immediate dangerfull statement here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=605702&publicationSubCategoryId=200

[stef]

confirmed 8 deadAs we know, the incident tragically ended in the deaths of eight innocent civilians

[stef]

looks like Korea will be next to black list the PhilippinesKorean killed in Pasig robbery By Non Alquitran (The Philippine Star) Updated August 24, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (6) MANILA, Philippines - A South Korean missionary was killed yesterday when he tried to resist a robbery in the boundary of Cainta and Pasig City.The victim, Choe Tae Hwan, sustained gunshot wounds in the left arm and armpit and died on the spot.Eastern Police District director Chief Superintendent Francisco Manalo immediately ordered the Pasig City police to track down the suspects, who fled towards Cainta town in Rizal province.Manalo gathered that Choe fetched his fellow missionaries, Kim Jeong Suk, Cho Eun Hye, Han Jin Suk, Choi Ho Young, Kim Da Ean, Kim Hyou Sik and Kim Young Cun from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).The seven missionaries arrived at 10:10 p.m. Sunday from South Korea and were on their way to Choe’s home in Cainta. With Choe behind the wheel, the South Koreans boarded a dark blue van (XEV-328).While traveling along Ortigas Avenue Extension, in Barangay San Lucia right after the Gotesco Mall in the boundary of Cainta around 12:35 a.m., a white van, without license plate, and with more or less four suspects in it blocked the victims’ path.Witnesses claimed that two of the suspects alighted and at gunpoint dragged Kim Young Cun (female) and Kim Hyou Sik (male) to the suspects’ vehicle.Manalo said Choe tried to put up a fight but one of the suspects fired at him, hitting him thrice. The suspects fled toward Cainta with the two Kims. Elements of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) retrieved five empty shells and a live ammunition at the crime scene.Manalo said the suspects later released the two Koreans in a street in Cainta.

[stef]

this is unbelievableAfterward, the access that we had to the crime scenes was staggering. We were able to walk right up to the bus. We could see the bullet holes, the smashed glass, the blood; there were human remains on the asphalt. It was unfathomable.http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/24/philippines.bus.hostages.eyewitness/index.html#fbid=zo9WIyNVDaY&wom=false

[Inspector]

Remember, this guy was a decorated officer. Maybe, just maybe he had a booby trap set up. Ya know, shoot me and BOOM. What would you all be saying then? Cops shoot sniper & bomb explodes killing all on board...dumb ass cops should have tried to negotiate and maybe some would have survived...oh wait that's what DID happen. NINE got out before the brother incident.Also, a sniper would have probably taken out the driver, who was just behind, with his high powered rifle. I guess that would be collateral damage huh.

Yeah, and he could of had AIDS, or a bad cold, and bit everybody on the bus as well...hahaha, you are joking yes? With the booby trap theory? If you even remotely felt that he was even capable of this....blowing up everybody with a secret plan of getting shot and then going boom, why not just get on the bus with a bomb strapped under your tight uniform and announce you are willing to blow all up....unless he ummm, gets his JOB back? Would this booby trap be connected to a life support system, maybe a wire attached to his heart rate, or pulse? Would the bullet have to hit a certain spot? Maybe the connective trap was attached to his eye...if it shut for longer then 2 minutes, boom? Or...if he fell down forward, a button would go push down and all would blow up? :)

[Inspector]

Statement of President Aquino on the Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis (philstar.com) Updated August 24, 2010 09:33 AM Comments (160) With the rest of the Filipino people, I wish to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were lost in the hostage situation at the Quirino Grandstand. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs has conveyed our deep feelings of sorrow to the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China and the people of Hong Kong through Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang. I have tasked Secretaries Soliman and Lim to provide everything necessary for the recovery and return home of the survivors. I have directed the fullest cooperation with the Hong Kong authorities on the part of our officials.From the onset of this incident, the hostage-taker seemed to not be belligerent, as shown by the release of hostages. These were encouraging signs.We were going to wait him out. The idea was to let the ground commanders who are the experts in this field handle the operation with minimal interference from people who are less expert.But the situation deteriorated rapidly when, during the course of the negotiations, he was given the letter of the Ombudsman in which she promised to personally review his case. As he was reading the contents of the letter, while talking to an unknown individual on the phone, he became increasingly agitated.The presence of his brother also added to the tension.At this point, he threatened to kill a hostage. The police decided to remove the brother from the scene. As the negotiators were departing, the negotiators were shot at.Media coverage of his brother being taken into custody further agitated the hostage-taker.Shots were fired. They seemed to be warning shots, as there was no audible indication of tumult or chaos to show that the hostages were in immediate dangerfull statement here http://www.philstar....bCategoryId=200

Ak47 and a busload of hostages = sniper shot to head. Instead, the world laughs once again at the Philippines, as the President tries to save face. The brother? :AddEmoticons04230:Clear shot.....take it.

[Jake]

Remember, this guy was a decorated officer. Maybe, just maybe he had a booby trap set up. Ya know, shoot me and BOOM. What would you all be saying then? Cops shoot sniper & bomb explodes killing all on board...dumb ass cops should have tried to negotiate and maybe some would have survived...oh wait that's what DID happen. NINE got out before the brother incident.Also, a sniper would have probably taken out the driver, who was just behind, with his high powered rifle. I guess that would be collateral damage huh.

Yeah, and he could of had AIDS, or a bad cold, and bit everybody on the bus as well...hahaha, you are joking yes? With the booby trap theory? If you even remotely felt that he was even capable of this....blowing up everybody with a secret plan of getting shot and then going boom, why not just get on the bus with a bomb strapped under your tight uniform and announce you are willing to blow all up....unless he ummm, gets his JOB back? Would this booby trap be connected to a life support system, maybe a wire attached to his heart rate, or pulse? Would the bullet have to hit a certain spot? Maybe the connective trap was attached to his eye...if it shut for longer then 2 minutes, boom? Or...if he fell down forward, a button would go push down and all would blow up? :)

Hey shipmate,My oh my, aren't we getting a little tongue in cheek today? Your counter argumentis right on -- your sarcasm is a perfect head shot bulls eye.Respectfully -- Jake