Bangkok: Philippine authorities have established that a lone gunman whose attack on a Manila casino killed 37 people was in debt and had a gambling problem, as released security camera footage shows the man walking casually around the building before being shot and wounded by police.
![The video shows the gunman collecting casino chips during his rampage.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170605194849im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/j/w/d/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwjwcj.png/1496583640923.jpg)
Most of the dead suffocated in thick smoke in the attack on Resorts World Manila early on Friday morning, which a high-ranking Philippines MP described as a clear example of a "lone wolf" terrorist attack.
But Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed the comments by Pantaleon Alvarez, speaker of the lower house if parliament, saying "this is not the work of [Islamic State]".
![Mourners light candles and lay flowers in front of a memorial outside the casino.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170605194849im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/j/w/d/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwjwcj.png/1496583640923.jpg)
"The work of [IS] is more cruel and brutal, they would simply kill people for nothing," Mr Duterte told reporters.
IS has claimed responsibility.
The CCTV footage shows terrified people in the casino running out as the heavily-built man carrying an M4 assault rifle, a .38 revolver, an ammunition vest and several bottles of flammable liquid burst into the gaming area.
Police named the gunman as Filipino Jessie Carlos Javier, 42.
![This image made from closed circuit television captures the gunman during his attack.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170605194849im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/j/a/x/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwjwcj.png/1496583640923.jpg)
Javier fired his gun without hitting anybody and poured flammable liquid onto three gaming tables, which he set alight.
He also shot up a bar area and set that alight.
![Bomb sniffing dogs walk outside a hotel at the Resorts World Manila complex.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170605194849im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/j/1/q/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwjwcj.png/1496583640923.jpg)
Minutes later Javier is seen firing shots to force open doors to the cashier's room where he stuffed $US2.27 million worth of gaming chips in his backpack.
He dropped the backpack after he was wounded in an exchange of fire with police.
The chips are worthless outside the casino.
Bleeding from his wound, Javier walked to the complex's hotel section on the 5th floor before shooting his way into a room, which he set ablaze. Police believe he then shot himself.
More than 12,000 people were in the complex at the time of the attack.
Fifty-seven were injured in a stampede as panicked guests and staff ran from the building.
Police said there were two "persons of interest" who have connections with the gunman who are cooperating with the investigation.
IS's claim of responsibility has intensified fears that the terror group plans to use the Philippines as a base, as South-east Asian fighters return from battle in Syria and Iraq.
Foreign fighters are among hundreds of Islamist extremists who seized the southern city of Marawi, 830 kilometres south of Manila, on May 23.
Ongoing fighting there has left more than 170 dead and dozens wounded.
South-east Asian defence ministers, meeting in Singapore at the weekend, warned the region would face a crisis for decades if militants are able to escalate their operations in the southern Philippines.
A Philippine police spokesman, Oscar Albayalde, said authorities released footage of the attack to show the public that the as yet unidentified man acted alone and that his motive was robbery, not terrorism.
"If he was really a terrorist, with all the ammunition he had with him, he would have shot everyone there," Albayalde said. "He could have killed hundreds of people."
Of the guests and employees who died, 36 were victims of smoke inhalation, Albayalde said. They had taken refuge in rooms in the gambling area rather than fleeing the building. The 37th victim, a South Korean man, died apparently of a heart attack, the South Korean embassy said.
The gunman arrived alone at the Manila resort by taxi. Investigators found and interviewed the taxi driver, who said he picked up the man in the San Lazaro neighbourhood of Manila, a community of low-cost, high-rise condos and shopping malls.
The driver said the man spoke fluent Tagalog. Some have speculated that the man was a foreigner because of his fair skin, large build and the fluent English he spoke at the casino.
The footage from numerous security cameras shows the man's movements during the 90-minute episode.
After he arrived, he rode up in an elevator with two women. When he stepped out, he was wearing a mask.
He walked past a metal detector without stopping. A security guard ran after him and the man began firing an M4 rifle.
At that point, people began fleeing. Some shouted "ISIS" as they ran, said Armeen Gomez, the chief security officer of Resorts World Manila. More than 1200 people fled the building.
The attacker's body was burned beyond recognition, Albayalde said. Authorities conducted an autopsy and collected the man's blood from the stairwell in the hope it would help identify him.
At one point, the man removed his face mask and looked directly into a camera, but that had not yet led to his identification by police.
with New York Times