A high school student armed with two firearms shot and k!lled a fellow student before turning the gun on himself Tuesday at a high school on the Ateneo de Zamboanga university campus in the southern Philippines, officials said. Hundreds of students were evacuated following the attack.
Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said the suspect appeared to have worn a body camera to livestream the shooting. Two other people were injured in the incident, he added.
According to Olaso, the suspect first opened fire at a teacher, though it remained unclear whether the teacher was hit. He then shot a fellow student, who died from the injury, before fatally shooting himself. Olaso disclosed this in an interview with DZBB radio network.
The shooting triggered panic as hundreds of students were evacuated from the high school building, which is located within a secured section of the campus, separate from the university’s main campus housing its colleges and professional schools in the port city of Zamboanga.
Hours after the incident, police said the situation had been brought under control and appealed to parents and guardians to remain calm and follow the school’s guidance regarding the pickup of their children.
National police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said authorities were still establishing the full circumstances surrounding the incident. He noted that police would release verified information as it became available and urged the public to refrain from circulating unconfirmed reports, photos, or videos that could cause undue alarm.
Nartatez further assured the public that the safety and well-being of the school community remained a top priority, and thanked the school administration, parents, guardians, and the wider community for their cooperation as authorities continued to manage the situation.
The attack occurred despite earlier assurances from police that school security nationwide would be strengthened following a shooting in June in Tacloban City, in which three high school students were killed and at least 20 others wounded. Two students, aged 14 and 15, were subsequently arrested in connection with that incident.
Gun-related crimes remain prevalent in the Philippines, partly attributed to the widespread circulation of unlicensed firearms, although school shootings are considered relatively rare in the country.
The Zamboanga shooting also comes less than two weeks after a similar incident in Thailand, where a 14-year-old boy killed his grandparents, five school staff members, and a 12-year-old girl in Nonthaburi province, outside Bangkok. In the aftermath, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul moved to introduce stricter gun control measures. Thailand currently has the second-highest rate of gun ownership in Asia after Pakistan, far exceeding that of its Southeast Asian neighbours.