Resorts World Manila: Explosions, gunfire reported in Philippines

a reply to: Kostafa

Yeah, and they likely expected the fire to be a diversion to allow them to escape. And, It might have worked as they are still searching for them (as far as I heard last).

UPDATE:

Philippine police say the suspect in the attack on a hotel and casino complex near Manila's airport has been found dead of apparent suicide. Metropolitan Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde says the English-speaking suspect was found dead with his rifle on the fifth floor of the Resorts World Manila complex. He says the gunman apparently killed himself. Police are searching the suspect's car, parked on the second floor. Before the attack, he got out of the car and entered the building with his rifle.

The Latest: Suspect in casino attack near Manila found dead

originally posted by: Krakatoa
UPDATE: I just saw a blurb reported on the MSM that the motive was robbery, and not terrorism.

The country's police chief Ronald dela Rosa said the lone gunman had not fired at people and had headed straight towards the room where the gambling chips were kept. He told reporters at the scene: "Don't panic, this is not a cause for alarm. We cannot attribute this to terrorism. "We are looking into a robbery angle because he did not hurt any people and went straight to the casino chips storage room. "He parked at the second floor and barged into the casino, shooting large TV screens and poured gasoline on a table setting it on fire."

The Sun (UK): Masked gunman storms Manila hotel and opens fire in brutal ‘casino chips robbery’ as terrified guests leap out of windows amid claims it was an ‘ISIS’ terror attack

Fox is reporting that 36 people suffocated in the Manilla Casino. This story has lots of twists and turns. First 2 masked gunmen, then 1. Terrorism then robbery. Gunman killed self on 5th floor and no injuries, now this.

Fox News Alert‏Verified account @foxnewsalert 19m19 minutes ago More

MANILA CASINO ATTACK: At least 36 suffocated in complex from smoke set off by gunman, police say

twitter.com...

apnews.com...:-36-dead-from-smoke-in-Philippine-casino-attack?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twit ter&utm_medium=AP

a reply to: EchoesInTime

Just reported that the gunman killed himself by setting himself on FIRE... This is just spiraling into wack-a-doodle territory now.
Resorts World Manila: At least 34 bodies found at casino complex

'Burned himself' Authorities said the man, who has yet to be named, entered the casino shortly after midnight and began shooting at television screens with an assault rifle, sending terrified patrons fleeing. He also set gaming tables on fire and filled a backpack with gambling chips worth 113m Philippine pesos (£1.7m, $2.3m). The man later fled to the hotel section of the complex, leaving behind the backpack, and entered a hotel room. "He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself," national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said on Friday.

a reply to: Krakatoa

That's a crazy set of events. Wow..maybe that wasn't the gunman who burned and the bad guys really did get away with the loot somehow. Hard to believe the "official story". Especially when all those people died and it's just now being reported.

they didnt commit suicide. they were killed and the coroner is saying suicide. because their actions were suicidal to begin with.

Lone whackjob or more than one gunmen?


It looks like they will probably blame one lone nut, acting out of revenge for losing his shirt:

www.rappler.com...
Manalo also said the closest motive that authorities see is that the gunman was retaliating for "losing a lot" from gambling. ...He said investigators alleged that the suspect lost as much as "one hundred million [pesos]," an amount they have yet to confirm.

But all the earlier reports say it was a team effort:

www.interaksyon.com...
Earlier accounts indicated more than one suspect. A supervisor at the hotel named Jun Mangosing ...told Radio DZMM he and the others went down via the staircase, and saw several men, guns drawn, combing through the third floor, which houses private rooms of VIP casino players, including foreigners.
..Ronald, a witness who worked in hotel’s maintenance, claimed he had seen two tall men wearing bonnets enter the second floor, then open fire in the air – not at the people – with “long” guns.

Gunmen were apparently active for at least a half an hour:

www.interaksyon.com...
Casino player Julio Silva said the second floor was filled with thick smoke after he emerged from the toilet, where he hid for 30 minutes when he first heard the gunshots.
They were then escorted to a safer spot by security men of the hotel and responding SWAT teams.
As they were trying to hide near the luggage room on the ground floor, shots rang out once again, Silva told DZMM, adding that he heard one of their rescuers said, “May tama ako [I’m hit]!”

One problem with the 'robbery' theory:

www.nytimes.com...
One account from the authorities said the attacker took 130 million pesos in chips, worth about $2.6 million, during his spree. How he intended to cash them was not explained.

Some accounts say the gunman lived at the hotel. Another say he came by taxi from another location.

www.nytimes.com...
...The gunman arrived alone at the Manila resort by taxi. Investigators found and interviewed the taxi driver, who said he picked up the man in the San Lazaro neighborhood...

www.independent.co.uk... .html
He said the man's car in the complex car park was being examined.

www.nytimes.com...
...the gunman had been a longtime-guest who had a room on the fifth floor and was known to security personnel,

Sabotage?

www.nytimes.com...
... One man who escaped, a Filipino poker player who did not want to be identified, told the radio station DZMM that the hotel’s sprinklers did not work.
...Officials said the building’s sprinklers helped suppress the fires.

The suspected gunman was no Filipino, that is for sure:

calvinayre.com...
PNP chief director general Ronald dela Rosa now says CCTV footage from inside the casino shows a “foreign-looking” Caucasian individual who they suspect is a robber.

www.telegraph.co.uk...
Manila police chief, Oscar Albayalde, told reporters that the suspect was likely foreign. “He looks Caucasian, he talks English, he’s big and he’s white, so he’s probably a foreigner,” he said

Its likely related to the crackdown on daesh aligned militants in Marawi.