Smoke rises from the Resorts World Manila complex early Friday, June 2, 2017 in suburban Pasay city southeast of Manila, Philippines. Friday, June 2, 2017. Gunshots and explosions rang out early Friday at a mall, casino and hotel complex near Manila’s international airport in the Philippine capital, sparking a security alarm amid an ongoing Muslim militant siege in the country’s south. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
(3rd update, 2:39 p.m.) Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Friday confirmed that the lone gunman behind the attack on Resorts World Manila is dead.
Dela Rosa, who earlier claimed that the gunman was killed after resisting arrest, said that the suspect set himself on fire in one of the rooms at the hotel.
“Patay na siya. Nagsunog siya sa sarili niya sa loob ng hotel, sa Room 510,” Dela Rosa told reporters. “Sunog talaga.” (He’s dead. He burned himself inside the hotel in Room 510. He was burned beyond recognition.)
“Humiga siya sa bed, kinoveran niya sarili niya ng makapal na kumot, and apparently nagbuhos siya ng gasolina sa kumot at nagsindi sa sarili. Sunog siya (He lay in bed, covered himself in a blanket, poured gas on the blanket and set himself on fire. He’s burned),” Dela Rosa added.
READ: Resorts World Manila under lockdown as suspects open fire, burn part of casino
NCPO Police Chief Dir. Oscar Albayalde, in a Palace briefing, said the police found out the gunman had a gunshot wound in his head.
“Wala pa tayong SOCO report ‘no, meron siyang gunshot wound sa (We have no (Scene of the Crime Operatives) report yet, but he had a gunshot wound on his) head. So…And he was really burned,” Albayalde said.
“So nakikita natin dito, binuhusan niya ‘yung sarili niya ng gas (He bathed in gas). He covered himself with a blanket, at saka may mga foams dun, and he ignited himself. And then he shot himself. Binaril niya bago masunog totally ‘yung katawan niya (He shot himself before his body is totally burned),” he added.
He said the gunman was “already dead” when they found him.
Earlier, the police chief said the gunman was a foreigner, a Caucasian who appeared to stand six-foot tall.
He, however, denied reports that the international terror group ISIS was responsible for the attack.
“There is a lone man who entered the second floor of Resorts World Manila. He was carrying an M4 rifle and he burned gambling tables. He did not shoot anyone,” Dela Rosa said in an interview with reporters at the police command center in the hotel complex.
Police are eyeing robbery, not terrorism, as motive behind the shooting for the suspect stole P130 million worth of casino chips.
READ: Cops eye robbery, not ISIS, in Resorts World attack – Bato
Police, composed of members of Special Action Force (SAF) and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), are still in the area. IDL
Images of the Resorts World Manila gunman when he was still alive and after he burned himself to death. PHOTOS RELEASED BY PNP SPD DIR. CSUPT. TOMAS APOLINARIO