Resorts World gunman identified as Jessie Javier Carlos, a Filipino
The lone gunman in the deadly Resorts World Manila incident that left 38 people dead, including the suspect, was a former government worker buried in debt, police said on Sunday.
National Capital Region Police Office chief identified him as Jessie Javier Carlos, 42, a former employee of the Department of Finance stationed at the One Stop Shop.
The suspect was identified as a Filipino national contrary to reports that he could be a foreigner because of his looks.
Carlos was fired from his job for non-declaration/misdeclaration of his statements, assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
The suspect was a father of three children but was separated from his wife, Jen Carlos, due to a misunderstanding for his gambling habits. According to his immediate family, the suspect was buried in debt, and even sold his Ford Ranger due to his financial problems.
NCRPO Director Oscar Albayalde said Carlos had a bank account with an outstanding debt of P4 million, and several other non-bank related debt.
Authorities were able to speak to the suspect’s family early Sunday, confirming that the gunman was Carlos after a thorough review of the CCTV footage, photos and other pieces of evidence.
“In the interest of justice, members of his family are with us here today. They express their deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the victims and to the public in general,” Albayalde said.
Resorts World released the security footage of the incident on Saturday, backing the accounts of the witnesses.
The identification of the suspect only reveals that the incident was not a terrorist attack but a robbery case, according to Albayalde.
“On this note, we also reiterate our prior statements that this is not an act of terrorism but this incident is confined to the act of one man alone as we have always said,” he said, reiterating that they won’t allow people or any threat group to use this situation to advance their propaganda.
The Islamic State earlier claimed responsibility for the incident./rga
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