PNP files murder raps vs gunmen, masterminds in Nueva Ecija bus shooting

MANILA, Philippines —The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed criminal complaints against the alleged masterminds and two gunmen who shot and killed two bus passengers while in transit in Nueva Ecija.

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo withheld the names of the assailants and the people behind the attack but revealed that they were charged with two counts of murder.

“Two counts of murder, kahapon po nag-file ng kaso sa prosecutor’s office of Nueva Ecija,” Fajardo told INQUIRER.net in a Viber message on Tuesday.

(We filed two counts of murder against the suspects before the prosecutor’s office of Nueva Ecija on Monday.)

Earlier, the PNP said the results of the ballistic examination conducted on three gun shells found inside the bus matched the three previous shooting incidents in Isabela and Nueva Ecija.

Police said these findings helped them identify the two gunmen, who were allegedly part of a gun-for-hire group.

Last November 15, a couple — whose names were also withheld by authorities — was shot four times in the head and neck while on board a Victory Liner bus traveling through the mountainous part of Barangay Minuli.

As seen in a video that had gone viral on social media, the assailants shot the victims before getting off near a river in the same barangay.

The day after the shooting incident, the PNP eyed the female victim’s son as a “person of interest” in the case. Police revealed that both were involved in a conflict that had gotten to the point where the victim filed a car theft case against her son.

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