A student has been shot dead at a high school in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga before the gunman took his own life, marking the country’s second fatal school shooting in two months.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at a school attached to Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a private Catholic institution in western Mindanao. The school administration separately confirmed that two people died in the tragedy, reports Guardian.
Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso told the radio station DZMM that the shooter had gained entry to the premises carrying a high-powered firearm and a .45-calibre pistol.
According to Mayor Olaso, video footage of the attack, which was seemingly live-streamed on Facebook and circulated by local media, showed the gunman first shooting at a teacher sitting at a table.
“It seems he missed, then moved to another room … he shot another student there, the one who fell,” Olaso said. The mayor added that two other people were also likely injured before the shooter turned the weapon on himself.
The university president, Ernald Andal, confirmed that there was no longer an active shooting and that no additional fatalities or injuries had been reported.
Andal stated that the university is coordinating with authorities and will provide more details as they become available, emphasizing that their priority is to protect the safety of all students.
In an online statement, Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and the school community, describing the event as a tragedy that should never have happened.
President Marcos Jr has directed law enforcement agencies to conduct a thorough investigation and determine what more must be done to prevent such incidents from occurring again.
The shooting follows an attack at a public high school in Tacloban City in June, which saw three students killed and approximately 20 injured after two students opened fire on campus.
In response, the government banned the online game Gorebox after discovering that at least one of the alleged shooters regularly played it and reopened a Senate inquiry regarding child safety in digital spaces.
However, the Department of Education informed a separate Senate committee last month that more support is needed to prevent a “copycat phenomenon”. This warning follows a rise in subsequent school violence reported by local media, including bomb threats, stabbings, and the recovery of firearms and ammunition.
The region of South-East Asia is currently grappling with school-related violence. Earlier this month in Thailand, a 14-year-old boy allegedly shot his grandparents and then killed more people at his school before turning the gun on himself, leaving nine people dead, including the shooter, teachers, and a 12-year-old girl, with more than 30 others wounded.
