Philippine police say casino attacker was indebted gambler

The Philippines has faced a Muslim insurgency in the country’s south for decades, and Manila has been on edge since government forces began battling Islamic militants who besieged the southern city of Marawi.

On Sunday, Carlos’ father told reporters that his son had no connections to terrorism. Carlos’ distraught mother, Teodora, wept and asked for forgiveness.

“We’re asking for your apology. We can’t accept ourselves that my son became like this, he was a very kind son,” she said. “He chose to end his life rather than … kill people.”

“The message of what happened to my son is people should not get hooked on gambling so their families won’t get destroyed,” she said.

Carlos’ wife was also brought before reporters. She was so distressed, she entered in a wheelchair and kept her head, hidden by a cream-colored towel, down on a desk as she sat beside the police.

Albayalde said that Carlos had sold off property, including a vehicle, to support his gambling habit of at least several years. His family had grown so concerned, they had asked casinos in the capital to ban him from entering since April 3.

The breakthrough in efforts to identify him came when investigators traced his path to the casino from a Manila suburb where he had hailed a taxi after midnight Thursday. They found his wife there early Sunday.

She told them she had seen images of her husband on TV. “She knew it was him, but she was really afraid,” Albayalde said.

In 2014, Philippine newspapers had reported that Carlos was fired from his job at the government’s Finance Department “for grave misconduct and neglect of duty” because he failed to disclose that he owned a Manila house, a Toyota SUV and other business interests — an annual requirement for government officials and employees.

As a result, he was permanently banned from government employment and his retirement benefits were forfeited.

Authorities on Saturday released video footage of the attack to bolster their argument that it was a botched robbery attempt by one man with no known link to terrorism.

The security footage showed Carlos casually exiting a taxi just after midnight and walking calmly inside the entertainment complex. 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 followed 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, slightly wounded, up a stairwell.

As thousands of people flee, the gunman is seen torching gambling tables and slot machines, setting fires police believe were meant as a diversionary tactic to allow his escape.

Then, just 11 minutes after his arrival, Carlos fires through the door of a storage room filled with poker chips, hauling a huge stash away.

He was later found dead on the fifth floor of a hotel connected to the complex, the 38th fatality of the night. Police said he shot himself and set fire to the empty room he had burst into.

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Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.

Todd Pitman, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Philippine police say casino attacker was indebted gambler

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