MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A high school student carrying two firearms shot to death a fellow student before killing himself Tuesday in a high school in a university campus in the southern Philippines where hundreds of students were evacuated to safety, officials said.
Zamboanga city Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said the suspect apparently wore a body camera to livestream the attack at the high school on the Ateneo de Zamboanga university campus in his
city. Two other people were injured, he said.
The suspect initially fired at a teacher but it was not clear if the teacher was hit. He then shot a fellow student, who died, before shooting himself, Olaso told DZBB radio network.
Hundreds of students were evacuated to safety after the gunshots rang out in the high school building, which is in a secured campus, separate from a larger campus of the Catholic university, where its colleges and professional schools are located in the port city of Zamboanga.
A few hours after the shooting, police said the situation was under control. They asked parents and guardians of students to remain calm and follow the high school's advice and arrangements to pick up their children.
“Authorities are currently establishing the circumstances surrounding the incident,” national police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said. The police “will provide verified information as appropriate and appeals to the public to refrain from sharing unconfirmed reports, photos, or videos that may cause unnecessary concern.”
The national police “assure the public that the safety and well-being of the school community remain a priority. We thank the school administration, parents, guardians, and the community for their patience, cooperation and understanding as authorities continue to manage the situation,” Nartatez said.
The shooting happened despite police assurances that security in schools across the country would be strengthened after a shooting in June in which three high school students were killed and at least 20 others were wounded in central Tacloban city. Police arrested two students, ages 14 and 15, accused of carrying out that shooting.
Crimes involving the use of firearms are prevalent in the Philippines, partly due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare.
The shooting in the Philippines also occurred less than two weeks after a school shooting in Thailand.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul took steps to restrict guns in the Southeast Asian country after a 14-year-old boy killed his grandparents, five school staff members and a 12-year-old girl in Nonthaburi province outside Bangkok.
Thailand’s high rate of gun ownership is second only to Pakistan in Asia, and far surpasses its Southeast Asian neighbors.
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Associated Press journalist Jintamas Sasornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.
