Instead of fare, bus conductor gets a bullet from 5 passengers

He was simply doing his job but a bus conductor ended up dead after being shot in an altercation apparently over fares with five male passengers before dawn Friday in Quezon City.

Ronel Monter, a 42-year-old resident of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan province, died in the hospital hours later from a single gunshot wound in the chest, police said.

SPO1 Pascual Fabreag of the Quezon City Police District said the five men boarded a Mayamy bus (TXM 386), where Monter worked as a conductor, near Amparo Subdivision in Caloocan City around 3 a.m. Friday.

As the bus approached the corner of BR Road and Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, Monter approached the men to collect the fare.

But instead of handing him the money, the suspects began arguing with him. One of them pulled out a gun and shot Monter at close range.

The five men, described by witnesses to be between 20 and 25 years old, then quickly got off the bus and fled on foot.

Bus driver Pablo Lopez and the passengers rushed the wounded conductor to Malvar General Hospital.

Monter was later transferred to East Avenue Medical Center, where he died around 8:25 p.m. Friday. Julie M. Aurelio