The holiday shopping spree was marred with violence Sunday night when armed robbers struck at a jewelry store located inside SM North EDSA, Quezon City.
There were no immediate reports on the details of the robbery, but a statement from SM Premier Mall Vice President for Operations Steven Tan said that the police are "on top of the situation" and that "no one was hurt" during the heist.
"There is a 'Martilyo Gang' robbery in a store in North EDSA. The police are on top of the situation and handling the matter. No one was hurt. The only weapon used was a martilyo. The mall remains open," Tan said in a statement.
Initial police investigation said that at around 7:00 in the evening, three armed men were able to enter the mall and posed as customers inside the SM Department Store, then smashed a jewelry showcase displayed near its entrance using a hammer believed to have been bought inside.
Meanwhile, a DZMM report said that shots were fired during the robbery, as heard by a number of mall-goers, but SM management was quick to deny this.
In January 2013, a similar incident happened at a jewelry store inside the department store of SM Megamall where a hammer was also used in the robbery.
Below are raw footages from GMA-7 network during the actual robbery where shoppers were seen fleeing in panic from the mall.