Hijacker once model policeman 08/25/2010

Hijacker once model policeman

08/25/2010 Rolando Mendoza’s crazed quest to restore his reputation as one of the Philippines’ best policemen came to a gory end with his bullet-riddled body slumping out of a tourist bus he had hijacked. One of his sharp-shooting former colleagues shot him in the head on Monday night, ending a 12-hour ordeal that began when Mendoza took hostage a busload of Hong Kong tourists in a bid to exonerate himself from extortion charges. Dressed in army fatigues, a pistol in his hand, a knife on his waistbelt and an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, Mendoza forced his way onto the bus in a desperate bid to raise awareness about his two-year personal campaign. In conversations with radio and television stations during the standoff, 55-year-old Mendoza repeatedly claimed he was not given a fair hearing by his superiors when he was discharged from the force. But as the siege dragged on he apparently realized he was doomed. “What is the use of living? I will just waste my life now,” Mendoza said, but even then he remained defiant, warning he would kill his hostages one by one if his demands were not met. Mendoza was last photographed alive on the open bus door with his receding hairline framing a grave face, a blue shirt underneath his unbuttoned army shirt and a long knife hanging off his belt.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100825hed3.html

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