Armed ex-guard holds about 30 hostage in Manila mall (Update)

Members of a police SWAT team prepare to enter a mall after a hostage situation was reported Heavily armed police were deployed at the mall in Manila after reports that a disgruntled employee was holding a group of people hostage. - AFP

MANILA (AFP): Police were in a standoff Monday (March 2) with a "disgruntled" former security guard who shot at least one person and took about 30 others hostage at a shopping mall in the Philippine capital, officials said.

Workers and customers were evacuated from the V-Mall shopping centre in Manila early Monday after gunshots rang out and officers wielding assault rifles rushed to the scene.