A ninth-grade student livestreamed himself shooting a schoolmate dead before taking his own life at Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said.
The shooting, the country’s second school attack in two months, occurred at the Catholic private university in Zamboanga City, western Mindanao.
Regional police spokeswoman Shella Chang said the suspect entered the classroom where the victim was and shot the student before going to the fifth floor, where he shot himself.
Interior Secretary Victor Remulla separately confirmed that the suspect had livestreamed the incident on social media. The Facebook account used for the livestream has since been disabled.
Footage circulated by local media showed the barrel of a firearm moving through a school hallway before being pointed into a classroom and fired. Students in school uniforms were seen screaming and fleeing the area.
Authorities had yet to establish the number of people injured or release the ages of the shooter and victim.
The national police are investigating the motive for the attack, as well as the ownership and source of the firearm and how it was brought onto the school campus, the Interior Ministry said.
Ateneo de Zamboanga president Father Guillrey Andal confirmed the deaths of two people and said the school was cooperating with investigators.
He said the institution was working with police to identify the victims so their families could be notified, adding that the incident had caused deep concern among students, staff and the wider school community.
Andal also noted that the school’s security team had been preparing an active-shooter simulation exercise before the attack, citing the importance of safety for students and personnel.
School shootings remain uncommon in the Philippines, although three teenagers were killed and 20 others injured in an attack at a school in the central Philippines in June.
Following that incident, Ateneo de Zamboanga was among schools nationwide that conducted active-shooter drills.
Although firearm ownership is strictly regulated in the Philippines, authorities say an illegal black market for guns continues to exist.
The shooting, the country’s second school attack in two months, occurred at the Catholic private university in Zamboanga City, western Mindanao.
Regional police spokeswoman Shella Chang said the suspect entered the classroom where the victim was and shot the student before going to the fifth floor, where he shot himself.
Interior Secretary Victor Remulla separately confirmed that the suspect had livestreamed the incident on social media. The Facebook account used for the livestream has since been disabled.
Footage circulated by local media showed the barrel of a firearm moving through a school hallway before being pointed into a classroom and fired. Students in school uniforms were seen screaming and fleeing the area.
Authorities had yet to establish the number of people injured or release the ages of the shooter and victim.
The national police are investigating the motive for the attack, as well as the ownership and source of the firearm and how it was brought onto the school campus, the Interior Ministry said.
Ateneo de Zamboanga president Father Guillrey Andal confirmed the deaths of two people and said the school was cooperating with investigators.
He said the institution was working with police to identify the victims so their families could be notified, adding that the incident had caused deep concern among students, staff and the wider school community.
Andal also noted that the school’s security team had been preparing an active-shooter simulation exercise before the attack, citing the importance of safety for students and personnel.
School shootings remain uncommon in the Philippines, although three teenagers were killed and 20 others injured in an attack at a school in the central Philippines in June.
Following that incident, Ateneo de Zamboanga was among schools nationwide that conducted active-shooter drills.
Although firearm ownership is strictly regulated in the Philippines, authorities say an illegal black market for guns continues to exist.
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