A former leader of the rebel faction Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB) was wounded while his son and three others were killed when ambushed by still unidentified men of the evening of Valentine's Day in a barangay. Chief Inspector Ferdinand Perez, town police chief, said Rudy "Bon" Alejandrino, ex-Hukbo commander, his wife Maria Lourdes, and another companion, Rolando Espino, were wounded when heavily armed men peppered their vehicle with bullets. Alejandrino's 21-year-old son Vladimir, a certain Jason P. Hernandez, a certain Josep, and van driver Pablo DC Escano of Nueva Ecija were killed. Two other individuals in the van, Edith DJ Takana and her son Mark Bryan, were unscathed. The group was traversing Barangay Sto. Rosario when the incident happened. They were on their way to Candating in Arayat town. Perez said the incident happened around 7 p.m. at the Spillway Bridge, barely half a kilometer away from the Mexico town center. Initial police reports said a vehicle with several men on board had tailed Alejandrino's group when it drove off from SM City Pampanga. When the group reached the Spillway, several armed men, who were positioned underneath the bridge's approach, opened fire at their vehicle, killing the four victims. Bystanders said some members of Alejandrino's group, also heavily armed, were able to return fire at the attackers. It was not clear, however, if there were any casualties on the assailants' side.
Perez said after the brief exchange of gunshots, the attackers fled. The wounded Alejandrino and his companions were then rushed to the V.L. Makabali Hospital in the City of San Fernando. Several meters from the crime scene, local residents scampered for safety at the start of the gunfire. Strangers sought cover in a local medical clinic near where the shooting occurred. Recovered from the crime scene, reports bared, were 36 empty shells, nine live ammunitions for M16 rifle, and 1 empty shell for M203 rifle. Assorted ammunitions, including a Colt 1911 .45 caliber pistol, with serial no. 32294, and a Llama Mark II 9 mm. caliber pistol, with SN 07-04-03179-98, were recovered from the victims' van, police said.
| I wager that's a bit more ordnance than is typically recovered in Bangladesh. |
Senior Superintendent Leonrado Espina, provincial police director, immediately ordered Superintendent Keith Singian, provincial mobile group chief, to conduct hot pursuit operations against the gunmen while members of Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco), under Inspector Laming, investigated the crime scene.
| "Make sure you take them out to the docks, or back behind the sneaker factory at around three a.m." |