There were two murders over the weekend – including the shooting
death of a 16 year old minor last night in Roaring Creek and the execution of
a 24 year old car dealer in the city. But we begin tonight with the news of
a frightening grenade attack onboard a passenger bus. It happened around 7 last
night onboard a D&E bus bound for Benque Viejo Town. There were two bandits
both believed to be Guatemalan. One was armed with a gun and the other with
a hand grenade. In a stunning move, passengers kicked the grenade man out of
the bus and ended up killing the other assailant. Again it was a frightening
attack and today we spoke to the driver who the bandits threatened to blow up.
Keith Swift has the story from Benque.
Ernesto Castillo Jr., Bus Driver
“The guy had a grenade in front and said that if I had done anything
out of the way he would have blown me up.”
19 year old Ernesto Castillo Jr. was confronted with that grenade last night
on a D&E Bus similar to this one. It was enroute to Benque with 25 passengers
onboard when the bandits made their move.
Ernesto Castillo Jr.,
“Upon reaching Clarissa Falls junction some passengers came off the
bus and getting back on the road I saw two other passengers from the back of
the bus coming to the front and I had already out the lights. So when I put
it on all I saw was the grenade and a handgun and I immediately out the lights 
and simultaneously they were saying it was an assault in Spanish as well. So
all I did was continued doing what they were instructing me to do.”
And the instruction was to keep driving.
Ernesto Castillo Jr.,
“The guy pointed the gun at me, the one with the gun, and told me
to continue driving and I did that. He asked for the purse and so the conductor
gave it to him and he went to the back and then the one with the grenade, he
stayed at the front, on the third step, he showed me the grenade and told me
that if I did any sign with the lights to the other vehicles that everyone would
have died and then he did it a second time for me to slow down. And then upon
reaching Succotz Village, the same guy with the grenade ordered me to slow down
and to open the door. Upon opening the door, one of the passengers kicked him
out of the bus.”
The man with the gun remained on the bus and was robbing passengers. High school 
teacher Jafet Pat Jr. was one of those passengers.
Jafet Pat Jr., Robbery Victim
“I was listening to music until two minutes when people were watching
forward and that is when I noticed we were being robbed. At that instance I
started to shut down my cell phone, my MP3 player, because I was listening to
music, and then the guy reached to where I was about 5 minutes later.”
Keith Swift,
“That is when you gave him the $2?”
Jafet Pat Jr.,
“Actually that is what I gave him but I had more. I hid everything.
He was threatening some of the passengers, saying in Spanish that he is going
to kill them if they didn’t give him anything. It was a very frightening
situation and scary.”
Throughout the entire ordeal, Ernesto Castillo Jr. says he continued driving,
that was an order from the gunman until the gunman attempted to fire a shot 
and the gun jammed. That is when he was overpowered and the passengers turned
on him.
Ernesto Castillo Jr.,
“The same guy that kicked the other one out, went to the back and
started trampling him. The conductor went to the back as well.”
The only passenger injured in the ordeal was 19 year old Luisa Carrillo who
jumped through the back door. She received a fractured skull.
Jafet Pat Jr.,
“A girl sadly she jumped from the bus in front of the Chinese shop.
The bus was going very fast, didn’t stop at any bumps.”
Ernesto Castillo Jr.,
“It is like seeing your life flash in front of you. All I know is
that I had my life and others in hand as well so it was frightening.”
Frightening and concerning for D&E’s owner Ernesto Castillo Sr.
Ernesto Castillo Sr., Bus Owner
“The only decision or what I would say if they could grant me licenses
for all my drivers to keep a gun on the bus for safety. That is the only way
to be on the safe side.”
Again one of the bandits was killed by the passengers and he has been
identified as Wilson Orland Paz Dominguez from Guatemala. Police recovered the
conductor’s purse from Dominguez which contained $788 in cash in addition
to the cell phones and assorted items stolen from passengers. The other bandit
escaped with the hand grenade. He is now being sought.
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