Manila, Philippines (CNN) -- A police assault team charged a bus with 15 people being held hostage by a gunman in the Philippines, breaking the windows with an axe, CNN's Anna Coren reported from the scene.
The gunman sprayed machine gun fire at the hostages, a police spokesman told CNN. It was not clear whether anyone was killed.
The former police officer who took the tourists hostage in the Philippines had threatened "more drastic measures" if police approach him, Manila police official Leocadio Santiago told CNN.
There were 25 people, including 22 foreigners, on the tourist bus when Rolando Mendoza boarded it with a gun, Manila District Police Chief Rodolfo Magtibay said. Nine hostages have been released, he said. CNN
