Policemen and security guards lead hostages to safety as they are freed during the shooting and hostage-taking incident in San Juan City, Metro Manila, the Philippines on March 2, 2020. The Philippine police ended a 10-hour hostage incident in Metro Manila on Monday, convincing the gunman to free all the hostages and surrender himself to the authorities. Around 30 people taken hostage by the gunman were released and left the V-Mall in the San Juan City of Metro Manila. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
MANILA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine police ended a 10-hour hostage incident in Metro Manila on Monday, convincing the gunman to free all the hostages and surrender himself to the authorities.
Around 30 people taken hostage by the gunman were released and left the V-Mall in the San Juan City of Metro Manila.
The hostage-taker identified as Archie Paray, a former security guard of the mall, exited the building later and surrendered to the policemen at around 8:18 p.m. local time (1218 GMT).
Paray, reportedly with a pistol and grenades, agreed to leave his weapons in the shopping mall.
The hostage-taker was allowed to speak to the public after he left the building but policemen tackled him from behind while he was airing his grievances before the media and authorities, and arrested him. Criminal charges are expected to be filed against him.
The 32-year-old hostage-taker entered the mall in the upscale district in Manila at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), shot and wounded a mall guard and took around 30 people, mostly employees of the mall, as hostages inside the mall's administration office.
The wounded victim was sent to a nearby hospital and in stable condition.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora and the management of the shopping mall confirmed that Paray is a disgruntled former security guard who was fired from his job.
An initial investigation from the city government and police showed the hostage-taker has been unsatisfied with his layoff, which may be the motivation of his move.
Shortly after Paray held people hostage, local policemen locked down the shopping mall and asked mall-goers to stay away from the area.
The V-Mall, located in the San Juan City of Metro Manila, is a shopping complex famous for its restaurants, shops, bars and a bazaar. It is also near a residential area.
The local authorities and policemen then started to negotiate with the hostage-taker in the afternoon while dozens of heavily-armed special policemen were deployed and surrounded the mall.
Six security officials, all from the mall and the security company that the hostage-taker used to work in, held a press conference at around 6:00 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) and told the media that they felt sorry for the incident.
The official said they were ready to step down from their respective posts if the hostage-taker would end the incident and release the people.
The hostage-taker watched the press conference through cellphone video call but gave no response.
Around 7:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), Mayor Zamora made another phone call to persuade the hostage-taker to walk out and ensured his safety.
Then Paray released all hostages and walked out of the mall.
The local authority and police refused to give more details on the hostage incident after it was peacefully resolved, but they promised that there will be a further investigation.
