Police arrested on Monday evening a former security guard who took about 30 people hostage at a mall in the Philippine capital, Manila after he was sacked by his bosses.

The crisis that lasted 10 hours ended after six bosses of Alchie Paray, the disgruntled guard at V-Mall Greenhills Shopping Center, agreed to resign, CNN Philippines reported. The hostage-taker claimed corruption surrounded his termination.

The gunman forced himself into the mall, shooting one of the security guards before capturing mall employees at gunpoint. The injured guard was rushed to a nearby hospital and was in stable condition.

During the standoff, a SWAT team was seen entering the four-story mall, which has more than 100 outlets. Shoppers were evacuated and a security cordon established around it.

The gunman was sacked by the company that provides security for the mall and had tried to get other guards involved, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said, adding that he was demanding to speak to his former colleagues by video call.

“He was trying to initially get the other guards to join him for some sort of coup d’etat against the mall management,” he told the ABS-CBN News Channel.

The other hostages were now safe in police custody and were being debriefed, the mall management said in an e-mailed statement late Monday evening.
“Management continues to cooperate with authorities and will have a post-incident assessment with the police to avoid a repeat of this unfortunate situation,” it said.

“Management will also look into allegations made by the hostage taker against security agency officials who allegedly take bribes from tenants to disregard shopping mall policies,” it added.

The gunman will be charged with frustrated murder, illegal possession of explosives, illegal possession of firearms, grave coercion and grave threat, ABS-CBN said, citing police. — NPA with Reuters

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