Student livestreamed school shooting in Zamboanga before suicide, authorities say
A ninth-grade student shot and killed a classmate, then took his own life, livestreaming the attack at a school attached to Ateneo de Zamboanga University, prompting a presidential call for tighter school safety measures.
A ninth-grade student entered a classroom at a school linked to the privately run Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, opened fire with a pistol and later a rifle, and livestreamed the assault. The attack left a 10th-grade male student dead and injured two others before the shooter killed himself on the building's fifth floor.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered law-enforcement agencies to investigate the incident and to develop measures to improve safety in schools.
"Our schools are where we entrust our children to learn, to grow and to dream about the lives ahead of them. They must also be among the safest places in our country," Marcos said in a statement.
Local officials confirmed the shooter used a .40-caliber pistol issued to his father, a customs officer who has since been removed from his post, and a licensed personal firearm also owned by the father. The school, a five-story complex on a 19.8-acre campus, suspended classes after the incident.
The shooting follows a June attack at a public high school in Tacloban that killed three students and injured about 20, highlighting the rarity of school shootings in the Philippines despite strict gun regulations.