Sacked Security Guard Holds 30 Hostage In Manila Mall, Shouts He Has Grenades
It hasn’t been a good month for at least 2 malls in the region.
We first heard that Thailand’s Terminal 21 mall was ravaged by a gunman in early February. Now, another mall in a South-east Asian country has been hit by a shooting incident.
After being fired from his job, a former security guard decided to storm the mall he used to work at on Monday (2 March) to “make some demands”.
Although thousands of shoppers and workers managed to escape the popular mall in Metro Manila, the Philippines, 30 others were not so lucky, reported The Straits Times.
Disgruntled security guard takes 30 hostage at V Mall in Manila
The management of Greenhills Center, a commercial district in San Juan city of Metro Manila, confirmed that the gunman is a former security guard, and he had taken hostages at V-Mall.
The statement added that another security guard had been injured.
Mayor tried negotiating with gunman
San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora, who was at the scene to negotiate with the gunman, told The Straits Times that about 30 people in the administrative office of the mall were being held hostage by the gunman.
According to The Straits Times, people heard gunshots at the mall just before noon. Thousands of shoppers, vendors, and staff from the mall managed to escape.
Worse still, the gunman was suspected to have grenades. Mr Zamora was quoted as saying,
But we have no way to confirm that. What we can confirm is that he is armed with a pistol… He shot someone, so he’s hostile.
Coup against management
Enraged over being fired after going AWOL for 2 weeks, the former guard tried to get the other guards to join him in a “coup d’etat against the mall”, reported the Rappler news site.
The Inquirer quoted a police report naming the suspect as Archie Paray, and reported that he had demanded to talk with his former colleagues.
Mall lockdown
According to accounts of the incident on social media, all doors of the mall have been shut.
A SWAT team has also been dispatched to the scene.
Despite warnings over social media for people to stay out of the area, crowds still gathered outside the mall.
Hoping for a quick & bloodless resolution
It is saddening that one person’s impulsive and dangerous decisions is causing others to suffer.
Hopefully, no other injuries occur and the gunman will be nabbed safely and swiftly.
MS News wishes the injured guard a speedy recovery.
Featured image adapted from Inquirer and Facebook.
