‘Casino attacker a gambling addict, not terrorist’
MANILA: An armed man who killed 37 people when he set fire to a casino here was a father of three from the Philippine capital, motivated by heavy gambling debts and not terrorism, police said yesterday.
The identification of the assailant as Jessie Javier Carlos, a Catholic, proved claims by the Islamic State (IS) group that it was responsible for Friday’s attack were false, Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said.
“We reiterate that this is not an act of terrorism, but confined to the act of one man alone,” Albayalde said as he sat beside Carlos’s parents and wife at a press conference held to announce the identity of the attacker.
Albayalde said Carlos was 43, had three children and had been banned from all casinos in April by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) following a request from his family because of his gambling addiction.
“He is heavily indebted due to being hooked to casino gambling. This became the cause of misunderstanding with his wife and parents. He was barred by Pagcor from all casinos because of the request of his next of kin. This could have probably triggered him. That’s why he was so mad at casinos.”
Carlos walked into the Resorts World casino and hotel complex here on Friday with an M4 automatic rifle and a bottle of petrol, before setting alight a number of different rooms in the complex, according to police accounts.
Thirty-seven people died in the fires, dozens more were injured in a stampede to escape, and Carlos was found dead about five hours later in a hotel room after committing suicide by setting himself on fire, police had said.
Security film of the incident released on Saturday showed the gunman calmly and slowly walking through the casino and firing into the air most of the time, apparently as warning shots for people to leave.
The video showed him breaking into a secure room where chips and money were being kept, apparently intent on stealing what he could.
He set alight gambling tables, which police said was probably an attempt to create a diversion so he could escape.
At the press conference, Carlos’s mother said he was a good man who committed the violence because of his addiction.
“We ask for forgiveness. My son was a good child to us.
“But, after he started playing at casinos, that’s all he did. He did not visit us. It was painful not to see him,” said his mother, Teodora Carlos.
Albayalde said Carlos had worked in the Finance Department, but had been sacked because he lied on official forms about unexplained assets and properties. AFP