Gunman in US shopping mall shooting spree dies of injuries

LOS ANGELES— A man who opened fire with a handgun at a shopping mall in Boise, Idaho, killing 2 people and injuring several others, including a police officer, died on Tuesday from wounds sustained during the violence a day earlier, authorities said.

Investigators have yet to determine whether the fatal injuries resulted from an exchange of gunfire with police at the scene, or from a self-inflicted gunshot before he was taken into custody, according to Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee.

The motive for Monday's midday bloodshed remained under investigation, Lee told reporters in a briefing a day after the attack at Boise Towne Square mall on the west end of Idaho's capital.

The suspect was publicly identified on Tuesday as 27-year-old Jacob Bergquist, a Boise resident. Police Chief Lee described him as having had previous run-ins with mall security and police for "disruptive behavior."

"We have had contact with him in the past, we did not have any reason to arrest him," Lee said, adding that Bergquist was not believed to have had any employment history at the mall.

Police also disclosed new details about the incident, saying that the suspect, dressed in black, fired multiple shots inside the mall before he fled the building and was confronted by officers arriving on the scene within 2 1/2 minutes.

He credited the swift response by law enforcement with preventing a "more grave tragedy."

The slain victims were identified by the county coroner as Joseph Acker, 26, a mall security officer who was the first person shot, and Roberto Arguelles, 49, who was gunned down near an elevator and died at a hospital.

Two women, aged 52 and 23, were injured as the suspect proceeded through the mall firing rounds into the floor, and a third woman, 68, was injured in her vehicle outside the building, apparently caught in the crossfire between police and the gunman, authorities said.

A Boise police officer called to the scene was shot at through the window of his vehicle and was injured by shards of broken glass, though evidence shows that gunfire struck the hat he was wearing, police said.

Another man was taken by private vehicle to a hospital and treated for injuries suffered in a fall while fleeing the mall, police said.

None of the wounded people's injuries were considered life-threatening, authorities said.

Lee said the suspect did all his shooting with a handgun, but a police statement online said he was carrying multiple firearms.

-reuters-

Thai mall shooting leaves 21 dead

Thai security forces evacuate people who were stranded inside the Terminal 21 shopping mall following a gun battle, to try to stop a soldier on a rampage after a mass shooting, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on Sunday. The Thai soldier who killed at least 21 people and holed up in a mall overnight was "shot dead" Sunday morning, police said, ending a near-24-hour ordeal which has stunned the country. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Thai mall gunman 'shot dead' after rampage: officials

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand - A Thai soldier who killed at least 26 people before being shot dead in a mall by commandos went on the rampage because of a debt dispute, the kingdom's premier said Sunday, offering the first official speculation for the motive of an "unprecedented" shooting spree.

After a night which seesawed between heavy exchanges of gunfire and terrifying dashes for mall exits by trapped shoppers, sharp-shooters brought an end to the 17-hour-ordeal when they killed the gunman on Sunday morning in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat.

Twenty-six people including civilians -- the youngest a 13-year-old boy -- and security forces were killed by the rogue soldier, Thailand's prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said.

"It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens," he said outside a hospital where victims, including at least two undergoing brain surgery, were being treated.

Prayut, a gruff former army chief, blamed a "personal problem" over the sale of the house for the soldier's rampage, which began on Saturday afternoon near an army barracks and was for several hours relayed by the gunman via Facebook posts.

The attacker, a junior army officer identified as Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma, used a stolen M60 machine gun, rifles and ammunition from one of Thailand's largest barracks as well as a military humvee to carry out the attack.

Prayut said he overpowered security at the barracks' arsenal.

"This was not carelessness. We don't leave the arsenal depot alone -- we had people guarding it."

Most of the dead were killed in and around the mall.

Volleys of gunfire rang out as the siege ran into dawn, hours after Thai security services stormed the ground floor and freed scores of stunned, terrified shoppers from a bloody rampage.

Frightened shoppers sent cascades of messages to friends and family on social media from cupboards, toilets and under tables as the gunman stalked the mall.

Shocked evacuees recounted how an ordinary Saturday at the busy shopping center descended into horror as the gunman entered, sparking an hours-long ordeal.

"It was like a dream... I'm grateful I survived," Sottiyanee Unchalee, 48, told AFP, explaining she hid in the toilet of a gym inside the mall as she heard the gunfire.

A Filipina teacher Aldrin Baliquing said he was ushered into a storeroom by staff as the shooting began.

"We were there for six grueling hours... I'm in shock," she said.

Scores of people made a dash for it as police and soldiers in masks and wielding assault rifles took control of the ground floor following a gun battle and scoured the fleeing crowds for the assailant.

Hours later he was shot dead. Photos showed smiling elite units of soldiers and police emerging from the mall.

Purported video from the scene -- shared on social media -- showed snipers in webbing on elevated walkways, aiming their rifles downwards as heavy gunfire echoed across a concourse below.

STOLEN WEAPONS

The gunman relayed his shooting spree through Facebook posts which charted the attack from an army barracks to the city mall.

Despite the prime minister's speculation, Jakrapanth's exact motive remained unclear as Korat -- a sedate and mid-size town -- tried to digest the scale of the atrocity.

The bloodshed began Saturday afternoon when he shot three people -- among them at least one soldier -- at a senior officer's house and then at the nearby army barracks, before driving a military vehicle to the town center.

There the gunman used the stolen weapons to unleash carnage in the town center.

Throughout the day, he posted images of himself and wrote several posts on his Facebook page as the attack unfolded.

In one Facebook video -- since deleted -- the assailant, wearing an army helmet, filmed from an open-top jeep, saying, "I'm tired... I can't pull my finger anymore" as he made a trigger symbol with his hand.

There were also photos of a man in a ski mask holding up a pistol.

A Facebook spokesperson said: "We have removed the gunman's accounts from our services and will work around the clock to remove any violating content related to this attack as soon as we become aware of it."

The city is home to one of the largest barracks in Thailand, a country where the military is enmeshed in politics and society.

The nation also has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, and several shootings at courthouses last year renewed concern about gun violence.

Agence France-Presse

No Filipinos hurt in Thailand mall shooting spree

MANILA - No Filipinos were hurt after a gunman killed at least 21 people in a Thailand shopping mall on Saturday afternoon, the Philippine Embassy there said Sunday.

The embassy, in a statement, urged Filipinos in Nakhon Ratchasima, a 4-hour drive from Bangkok where the besieged Terminal 21 mall is located, to heed local officials' advise to stay indoors.

"We offer our prayers and solidarity with our Thai brothers and sisters in this time of grief," the embassy said.

According to a report of ABS-CBN News correspondent Goldie Saurin, six Filipinos were evacuated from the mall at around 2 a.m., Sunday.

"Wala na po siyang hawak na hostage. Siya ay naglalakad sa loob ng mall. Lahat ni-lockdown ang rooms at dahan-dahan nailabas ang customers at staff," Saurin told radio DZMM on Sunday morning, describing earlier activities of the gunman and those trapped inside the mall.

("He doesn't have any hostage anymore. He is just walking around inside the mall. All rooms in the mall have been locked down, and customers and staff are slowly being brought out.")

First Secretary and Consul General Val Roque was on his way to the area to check the condition of the Filipinos who were rescued from the mall, according to the Philippine Embassy.


Authorities earlier identified the gunman as a junior army officer named Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma, who was killed after a nearly 24-hour ordeal.

The city - better known as Korat - is known to be frequented by Filipinos and is home to one of Thailand's largest barracks in a country where the military is enmeshed in politics and society.

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world.

Several shootings at courthouses late last year renewed concern about gun violence in the Southeast Asian country.

--With Agence France-Presse

Fire hits Glorietta 3

MANILA -- A fire hit the third floor of Glorietta 3 in Makati City, just days after the shopping mall signaled the start of the busy Christmas period.

The blaze started at around 7:55 p.m., with firefighter crews from the city's Bureau of Fire Protection calling first alarm. They managed to evacuate workers and shoppers inside, as well as those from nearby establishments, and extinguish the fire at around 9:09 p.m.

No one has been declared injured. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Escalator at China mall 'devours' cleaner's foot

Chinese state television showed surveillance camera footage of the moment a janitor's foot was caught in an escalator at a shopping mall in Shanghai on late Saturday (August 1) night.

The footage, which was acquired from the mall by state broadcaster CCTV and released on Monday (August 3), shows two people jumping over the top platform of the escalator just before a janitor, surnamed Zhang, walked over to mop its steps.

Within seconds of stepping over the escalator's top platform, Zhang slipped and his left foot was caught between a gap in the escalator's steps.

It took local firefighters around 20 minutes to free Zhang from the escalator's grasp, but doctors at a local hospital were unable to save his foot and were forced to amputate it, CCTV said.

Zhang is still recovering at the local hospital, CCTV added.

Authorities from the Market Monitoring Bureau of Shanghai's Changning district told CCTV that they are now conducting an investigation into the incident.

The escalator, which was manufactured in 2004, has been closed off from the public since Saturday's incident, CCTV said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

GERI to put up shopping mall in Southwoods

MANILA - Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI) of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan has finalized its plan to put up a shopping mall in its largest fully-integrated township project south of Metro Manila.

Southwoods Mall Inc. (SMI), a subsidiary of the listed tourism estate developer, has signed a memorandum of agreement with Southwoods Ecocentrum Corp.

Under the deal, SMI agreed to lease a 1.9-hectare parcel of land owned by Ecocentrum located at the Southwoods City Commercial Center in Biñan, Laguna.

“The said parcel of land shall be used and developed by SMI as a commercial shopping mall with related facilities such as department stores, supermarket, restaurants, cinemas, parking, and commercial building to house business process outsourcing companies and for other office and retail establishments,” GERI said.

“The shopping mall will form part of fully-integrated master-planned township development dubbed as Southwoods City,” it added.

The 561-hectare, P10-billion township development is positioned to be the next residential, business, commercial and leisure hub that is closest and most accessible to Metro Manila.

Southwoods City, located in parts of Cavite and Laguna, is the largest fully-integrated township development of GERI.

Property firm Megaworld Corp. will take charge of the design, conceptualization and masterplanning of Southwoods City. It will also manage the office towers and commercial components of the township development.

Of the 561-hectare property, 376 hectares were allotted for the residential segment including the residential village Pahara. The 26-hectare Pahara consists of 602 available lots ranging from 239 to 523 square meters (sqm) with views of the golf course and the Laguna de Bay.

The 125-hectare portion of the township will be occupied by the Jack Nicklaus-designed Southwoods City Golf and Country Club while the remaining 60 hectares were set aside for the Southwoods Business Park.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com