Gunman at Manila hotel

[Quartz]

BBC article here.

Police in the Philippines have taken control of a hotel and entertainment complex in Manila after it was stormed by a masked gunman.
Resorts World Manila was put on lockdown after the incident, which happened shortly after midnight local time (16:00 GMT).
Swat teams were deployed to the scene, with people fleeing the hotel in panic.
The Philippines police chief said they did not believe it was a terror attack.

Hopefully it isn’t a terror attack. The authorities there are being very severe with that sort of thing right now.

[Terminus_Est]

Not a terror attack but a robbery.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/06/02/Gunshots-explosion-Resorts-World-Manila.html

Philippine National Police Ronald dela Rosa said the suspect, who is foreign-looking, set gambling tables on fire and stole millions worth of chips.

Apparently the lone gunman has burned himself to death.

[Terminus_Est]

According to certain Redditors, the casino chips are all RFID tracked and therefore now useless.

[Okrahoma]

CNN reports 34 bodies found inside the hotel. Mostly women, inside bathroom, not shot, suffocated.

Horrible. From videos, didn’t look like a big fire.

“Hours later, police confirmed the gunman had committed suicide by setting himself on fire in one of the hotel guest rooms. He was found in the room, burned beyond recognition, next to a machine gun and a .380 calibre pistol, CNN Philippines reported.”

Really? Suicide by burning yourself to death when you have firearms readily available?

[voltaire]

Well they didn’t say he didn’t shoot himself before he burned up, and they probably wouldn’t know yet, anyway.

[Tranquilis]

@voltaire

Well they didn’t say he didn’t shoot himself before he burned up, and they probably wouldn’t know yet, anyway.

How would that work, anyway…? Set self on fire, shoot self, flambe? Still pretty radical, considering that fire HURTS had he did that to himself first.

[Calatin]

I don’t understand the logic behind stealing casino chips that can only be redeemed at that casino, and then setting the casino ablaze, all while unmasked.

[voltaire]

@Tranquilis

How would that work, anyway…? Set self on fire, shoot self, flambe? Still pretty radical, considering that fire HURTS had he did that to himself first.

Well, there’s no telling what happened yet, but he could have doused the whole room in gas, thrown a match and shot himself as he started to burn. Maybe not painless, but hardly difficult or unlikely to pull off.

@Calatin

I don’t understand the logic behind stealing casino chips that can only be redeemed at that casino, and then setting the casino ablaze, all while unmasked.

Yeah, not a whole lot of logic there, so who knows. Interestingly, ISIS is still taking credit for this guy incidentally killing a bunch of people from smoke inhalation.

[Two_Many_Cats]

@voltaire

Well, there’s no telling what happened yet, but he could have doused the whole room in gas, thrown a match and shot himself as he started to burn. Maybe not painless, but hardly difficult or unlikely to pull off.
Yeah, not a whole lot of logic there, so who knows. Interestingly, ISIS is still taking credit for this guy incidentally killing a bunch of people from smoke inhalation.

So, ISIS gives points for accidental kills? Do they know how stupid that looks?

[John_Bredin]

@Two_Many_Cats

So, ISIS gives points for accidental kills? Do they know how stupid that looks?

They’ve already shown that they don’t care how they add to their death-toll when they take credit for every lunatic killer who once looked at a jihadist website and decides to throw in an “Allahu Akbar” when he commits his attack. :rolleyes: You used to actually have to train terrorists, but with the gig economy and all…

[Terminus_Est]

CCTV footage of the incident has been released:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqeH13y5KsM

The first video shows the gunman arriving on a taxi, riding an elevator up to the casino level, strolling past security where the apparently unarmed lone security guard was helpless to stop him, randomly shooting in the air and sending guests and employees running, setting fire to casino tables and slot machines before breaking in to the cages by shooting the locks and helping himself to the casino chips. Armed security and police responded within five minutes of the first shot being fired and apparently were able to wound the gunman.

The second video show what happened after the gunman had walked up to the fifth floor. He broke into a hotel room, walked out into the corridor and set some linens on fire, went back into the room were apparently he set himself on fire and before shooting himself.

The latest reports identify the gunman as Jessie Carlos, a Filipino national who had been barred from several casinos. On CNN Philippines right now they are interviewing his parents. I’ll update when a web link becomes available.

[Terminus_Est]

Police have identified the gunman as Jessie Carlos, a former employee of the Department of Finance who had run up some substantial gambling debts.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/06/04/police-resorts-world-manila-gunman-jesse-carlos.html

“He is heavily indebted due to being hooked in casino gambling, according to his immediate family,” he said. “This became the cause of misunderstanding with his wife and parents. He has a bank account with an outstanding debt of P4 million and several other non-bank related debt.”

Albayalde said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, which oversees the operations of casinos like the one in Resorts World Manila, barred Carlos from all casinos in April 2017 upon the request of his family.

Absolutely no relation to terrorism. Indeed, authorities here all the way up to the President has said to knock it off with the ISIS talk.