MANILA, Philippines?Hostage-taking cop, Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza has reportedly killed most, if not all of the Chinese tourists he had held hostage after seeing cops arrest his brother and son.

The information came from the driver of the tourist bus who was able to get away during the carnage.

Gunshots were heard coming from the bus earlier.

Mendoza was thought to have fired warning shots anew as he saw his brother, Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio Mendoza and a young man said to be Rolando?s son, being hauled away by police.

Superintendent Ike Gutierrez of the Manila police said Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio Mendoza was arrested for bringing a gun to the hostage scene without coordinating with the police.

A young man, said to be a son of Senior Inspector Mendoza, who had helped SPO2 Mendoza resist arrest earlier was also seen being hauled away by the policemen.

At past 6 p.m., a single gunshot was heard coming from the bus. Reporters at the scene learned that Mendoza fired a warning shot after rejecting a letter from the Office of the Ombudsman regarding his dismissal from the service on charges of torturing and extorting from a suspect.

But the Manila police earlier would not confirm if the loud shot was gunfire.

Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo, spokesperson of the Manila Police District, evaded questions about the bang, saying they were still checking what happened.

He said the police remained optimistic that the hostage crisis would end peacefully.

The loud bang was heard at about 6:20 p.m. Moments later, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, the brother of the hostage-taker, came back with the negotiators from the bus after another apparent attempt at an agreement.

But the brother and the negotiators were tight-lipped and would not say what happened, and what the shot was all about.