Questions you're asking about the Resorts World attack

(Update 2 at 4:30 p.m.) Here are some answers reported so far to questions and speculations about the incident on Friday morning at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.

• Was it an act of terror?
• Did the ISIS really claim responsibility?
• Why did many people die?
• What is known about the gunman? Did he act alone?
• What could be the gunman's motive?
• Were there security lapses?
• Why did the police respond with armored carriers?
• What we don't know

Was it an act of terror?

The police chief who has jurisdiction over the casino-hotel complex shot down initial speculations of people inside the Resorts World Manila building who panicked and screamed "ISIS, ISIS!" upon seeing the gunman.

Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde, Metro Manila police director, said it was expected for people to link the threat to the so-called Islamic State amid the clash in Marawi City between state forces and ISIS-backing terror group Maute.

Authorities said the dead gunman, who is yet to be identified as of this posting, did not appear to intend to fire at people when he marched into the building carrying a rifle.

READ: Expert: Resorts World attack unlikely a terror act

"Although the perpetrator gave warning shots, there apparently was no indication that he wanted to harm or shoot anyone," presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.

The Resorts World incident is considered a law enforcement situation, whereas the crisis in Marawi, Abella said, is a "matter of national security."

Did the ISIS really claim responsibility?

SITE, an intel group monitoring the Middle East-based terror organization, reported that the group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police chief Ronald dela Rosa dismissed the claim as "propaganda" by the Islamic State by taking advantage of the situation. He attributed the crime to a lone gunman, purportedly a casino regular, whom he speculated as possibly mentally challenged.

A terror suspect would have killed or hurt those in his vicinity, he said.

He added that only person was recorded to have sustained a gunshot wound—a security guard who accidentally shot himself in panic. Resort World executive Steve Reilly, however, later denied that a security guard had this accident.

Why did many people die?

The Metro Manila police chief, Oscar Albayalde, said that the gunman carried a 2-liter bottle of gasoline. Possibly to hide himself from the security cameras, the gunman set fire in the gambling area which was carpeted and its tables were also made of combustible materials.

The at least 35 deceased individuals, whose bodies were recovered from the gaming area, died of suffocation supposedly from thick smoke.

Police watch smoke from a hotel at the Resorts World Manila complex, early Friday, June 2, 2017, in Manila, Philippines. AP/Aaron Favila

Occupants of the hotel were safe and were able to evacuate during the incident.

The casino-hotel's management also reported that 54 were rushed to the hospital with injuries earlier today.

What is known about the gunman? Did he act alone?

The gunman was found dead with his rifle of apparent suicide at past 7 a.m. He was described as Caucasian looking and spoke in English. "He's big and he's white, so the assumption of the people [who saw him]... was that probably he's a foreigner," police said.

Police were searching the suspect's car, parked on the second floor. Before the attack, the suspect got out of the car and entered the building with his rifle.

The gunman entered alone, based on security video. Metro Manila top cop Albayalde said, "From the time he barged in and until the end, he was alone."

Still, police are pursuing a possible "person of interest" who is said to be connected to the attack, said Tomas Apolinario, chief of Manila's Southern Police District.

What could be the gunman's motive?

Authorities earlier said they think robbery was the motive, calling the suspect possibly "deranged" and "mentally disturbed." These descriptions, however, remain speculative as investigators try to identify the assailant.

Police chief Dela Rosa said security footage showed the gunman ignoring a guard who tried to question him at the entrance to the complex. He did not hurt the guard but went straight to the gambling area, he said.

This image made from closed circuit television made available by the Philippine National Police on Friday, June 2, 2017, shows the gunman at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. PNP via AP

The gunman stole gambling chips, shot TV screens and set gambling tables ablaze by pouring gasoline on them, Dela Rosa said.

The suspect took 113 million pesos ($226,000) worth of gambling chips, which were found in a bag he was carrying.

Jeff Santos, a regular Resorts World client and eye witness, told ANC that he recognized the suspect as a casino regular.

It was not clear how the gunman smuggled gasoline and an assault rifle into the crowded casino, but the assailant did not fire at people he encountered.

Metro Manila police chief Abayalde, meanwhile, said there was no indication of terrorism. His hypothesis was either the suspect lost in the casino and wanted to get his money back, or went "totally nuts."

Were there security lapses?

Guards at the door of the casino-hotel building ran away after seeing the armed man who entered the building carrying a baby armalite, National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde said.

Having said this, Albayalde noted that the possible failure of private security personnel in the complex under the NC Lanting Security Specialist Agency is subject to investigation.

Reilly, chief operating officer of Resort World Manila, said the armed security guards outside the premises decided not the engage the gunman in fear of "escalating the situation." He later told the media a new finding that the business' security team was able to shoot the gunman and wound him before he was found dead in a small room.

A document obtained by the STAR showed that the police's Civil Security Group granted personnel of the security agency a permit last year to carry high-powered firearms subject to the usual conditions.

Since people died of enveloping smoke in the gambling area, the building's fire suppression system will also be looked into. But police officer Albayalde said it seemed that sprinklers and alarms were functional during the fire incident connected to the attack.

Why did the police respond with armored carriers?

Police responded to the incident in the early hours by deploying armed personnel carriers and a SWAT team of elite marksmen.

Police chief Dela Rosa told reporters that at the first moment, police did not discount the possibility of terrorism before robbery was finally considered as a motive.

Armored Personnel Carriers of the Philippine National Police arrive at the Resorts World Manila complex early Friday, June 2, 2017 in suburban Pasay city southeast of Manila, Philippines. AP/Bullit Marquez

"The response of the police, you might call it extraordinary, but for us, it was necessary," Dela Rosa said over radio. He explained that it could have been a diversionary tactic of those behind the siege on Marawi who are suffering losses due to continuing military offensive.

As of posting time, authorities maintain that the attack appears to be more an isolated incident of robbery and a manifestation of mental disability.

While the incident has no known links to terror groups, Metro Manila is still on full alarm despite the absence of threats, said Albayalde. The alert has been raised since the blast at a night market in Davao City in September last year

What we don't know

Despite the initial answers provided by authorities, investigation into the incident has been launched and will continue in the following weeks. Questions on the deaths of the victims, the identify of the "lone wolf" and security matters are yet to be known and made public.

Raquel Fortun, the country's foremost forensic expert, urged the government to conduct a "scientific investigation" into the attack. "So many died, so many questions. It's not a case closed," Fortun said on her Twitter account. — Camille Diola with reports from the Associated Press