Albayalde says the man’s family said he was US$80,000 in debt “due to being hooked on casino gambling”. Albayalde says the family’s account corroborated the belief that “this is not an act of terrorism.”
Authorities have earlier dismissed the claim of responsibility by Isis.
In his first remarks on the assault, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the attacker was simply “crazy”. This “is not the work of Isis. The work of the Isis is more cruel and brutal,” he said.
National police chief Ronald dela Rosa, however, has not yet ruled out a link to terrorism.
Security footage shows the man responsible for one of the Philippine capital’s deadliest attacks in years casually exiting a taxi just after midnight and walking calmly into a vast entertainment and gambling complex like any other visitor.
Shortly afterward, he dons a black ski mask, slips on an ammunition vest and pulls an M4 carbine assault rifle out of his backpack.
What follows borders on the surreal: a slow-motion arson attack and robbery so methodical and unhurried, the gunman appears to walk much of the way even as he exchanges fire with a security guard and flees, wounded, up a stairwell.
Isis claimed responsibility for the early Friday rampage at the Resorts World Manila complex. At least 37 patrons and employees died, mostly from smoke inhalation as they tried to hide, while the gunman fled to an adjoining hotel and reportedly killed himself.
The video footage shown to reporters on Saturday, though, bolsters the government’s case that this was a botched robbery by a lone attacker with no known link to terrorism. Police said that is why they wanted to release it.
Despite some initially contradictory accounts of the chaos, what is known so far appears to back up that claim.
Although the attacker was well armed, Albayalde said he was carrying 90 bullets in three rifle clips, there are no confirmed reports that he shot any civilians. Instead, he fired into the ceilings, scattering panicked crowds, some of whom jumped out windows to escape what they believed to be a terror attack.
Albayalde said the security footage also indicated a clear motive. The gunman headed straight for a storage room in the back of the casino that contained poker chips. He is seen shooting through several thick white doors, breaking down one of them at 12.18am Friday, 11 minutes after his arrival.
More than 12,000 people were in the complex at the time; most were successfully evacuated. “He could have shot everybody there,” Albayalde added. “He could have killed hundreds of people inside that establishment. But he did not shoot anybody ... he just burned the casino. Burning the casino could be a diversionary tactic for his escape.”
“All indications ... point to a criminal act by an apparently emotionally disturbed individual,” said presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella.
National police chief Ronald dela Rosa also said the attack did not appear to be terrorism. “What if we establish the identity and there are leads that will lead toward terrorism? So our findings, our conclusion, will possibly change,” he told DZMM radio.
The Philippines has faced Muslim insurgencies for decades, though much of the violence has occurred in the troubled south. Many in Manila feared Friday’s attack was linked to ongoing battles with militants aligned with Isis in the southern Philippine city of Marawi. The fighting has placed the country on edge and prompted Duterte to declare martial law across the south.
Isis issued two statements claiming responsibility for the attack, but they contained discrepancies. One mentioned fighters, the other just one fighter, a person who goes by the nom de guerre Brother Abu al-Kheir al-Arkhabili. One of the statements also said the attacker “died as a martyr” which would not make sense if he shot himself in an evacuated hotel room at the end of the night, as the police claim. Suicide is forbidden in Islam.
More about: #CasinoAttack
