Air Force staff killed in NLEX robbery

MALOLOS CITY — An Air Force personnel was shot in the head and was killed instantly by a band of robbers in a daring robbery along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) in Marilao town yesterday morning.

Police identified the victim as Technical Sargeant Bobby Lucero, a maintenance employee at the Philippine Air Force based at Clark Field in Pampanga.

Investigation showed that Lucero was on board a Victory Liner bus with license plates CWX-220 bound for Tarlac driven by Dominador Lomibao.

Tomas Mariano, the bus conductor told The STAR in an interview at Camp General Alejo Santos here yesterday that one of the six gang members is a female.

He said that after their bus took off from their terminal in Pasay City, the gang members posed as passengers, boarded the bus in pairs at Mantrade, Cubao and at Muñoz, along the Efipanio Delos Santos Avenue.

Moments after the bus entered the NLEX at Balintawak toll plaza, one of the gang members announced the heist by firing his short firearms twice inside the bus, and started divesting the 23 other passengers of their cash and valuables.

Mariano believes that the bullet fired by the robbers was empty since it did not bore a hole on the roof of the bus.

However, the suspect used a live bullet when he shot Lucero in the head that killed him instantly.

Mariano said that before the suspects got off at Bgy. Lias in Marilao town, he overheard one of the suspects called a cohort using a cellular phone of one of the passengers.

"Sabi nung isang suspect, ihanda na raw yung sasakayan dahil malapit na silang bumaba, pero sabi nung pasahero na may ari noong cellphone, wala naman siyang load kaya palagay namin, kunwari lang iyon na may kausap," Mariano said.

The victims described the suspects as lean and less than 5’6" tall, and speaks with Visayan accent.

Police sources told The STAR that it is the second time that a band of robbers got off at Brgy. Lias in Marilao along the NLEX.

As this developed, local police are still conducting investigation on the incident and are trying to come up with the identities of the suspects.