MANILA, Philippines (NBC) – A shopping mall hostage crisis is over peacefully in the Philippines.
Police in San Juan City, in metropolitan Manila, say a recently dismissed security guard walked out of a mall with his hostages after holding them several hours at gunpoint Monday.
The mall is located in an upscale commercial district of Manila, near the police and military headquarters.
The man, identified by police as Archie Paray, is a former guard at the complex who says he was fired recently by a department he calls “corrupt.”
Paray was allowed to make a statement and address the media and his former colleagues.
During his statement, police moved in and tackled him, leading him away in cuffs.
Paray is accused of shooting another security officer before rushing to the second floor of the complex, where he held dozens of people, mostly employees, hostage in an office.
Five of Paray’s former security office colleagues publicly apologized to Paray and then resigned their posts in a news conference.
As he was being taken away, Paray shouted to the mayor of San Juan, asking the mayor if he would be taken to jail or the cemetery.
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