A recently dismissed security guard started firing a gun and took dozens of people hostage in Manila, authorities said.
The officlal added about 30 people were being held by the gunman, with one person shot and wounded.
Mayor Francis Zamora of the Philippine capital’s San Juan area said the gunman shot one person at the V-Mall.
The victim was in stable condition at a nearby hospital.
Mr Zamora said a negotiator was trying to talk to the gunman – a disgruntled former security guard at the shopping complex – inside an administration office.
“He felt bad because he was removed as a guard,” he told reporters, adding that the man tried but failed to convince fellow guards to join him.
The man demanded to talk to fellow guards and the media, Mr Zamora said, but it was not clear if officials would agree to those conditions.
More than a dozen SWAT commandos were earlier seen entering the shopping centre with their assault rifles ready.
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