Gunman livestreamed the shooting with a body camera at a high school on a university campus in Zamboanga City; two others injured as hundreds of students were evacuated.
A high school student carrying two firearms shot a fellow student dead before turning the weapon on himself on Tuesday at a school attached to Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga, officials said.
Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said the suspect appeared to have worn a body camera and livestreamed the attack. The incident occurred in the morning at the high school building on a secured campus separate from the university’s main facilities for colleges and professional schools. Hundreds of students were evacuated to safety after gunshots rang out.
Zamboanga School Attack: Student Kills Classmate:
According to the mayor and police, the student first fired towards a teacher seated at a table. It was not immediately clear whether the teacher was hit. The gunman then moved to another area, shot a fellow student who later died, and subsequently killed himself. Two other people were injured.
Reports described the weapons as a high-powered firearm or rifle and a .45-calibre pistol. Preliminary accounts identified the shooter as a junior high school student (variously reported as Grade 7 or Grade 9) and the victim as a male student one grade higher. University president Ernald Andal confirmed two fatalities-the shooter and the classmate-and said there was no longer an active shooter. Police later stated the situation was under control and urged parents to remain calm while following school arrangements to collect their children.
“Authorities are currently establishing the circumstances surrounding the incident,” national police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said. Investigators were examining how the firearms were brought onto the campus and reviewing the livestream footage, parts of which circulated on social media and local media. In the video, the barrel of a gun is seen moving along a corridor in a style reminiscent of first-person shooter games before being pointed into a classroom and fired, with students in uniforms screaming and rushing for exits. The suspect’s social media account was later disabled.
The attack comes less than two months after a deadlier school shooting in Tacloban City in the central Philippines, where two teenage students opened fire at San Jose National High School on June 22, killing three classmates and injuring about 20 others. That incident, also involving minors, was described as extremely rare for the country and prompted renewed discussion of school safety, juvenile justice and access to firearms.
Zamboanga School Shooting Leaves Two Dead:
School shootings remain uncommon in the Philippines compared with countries such as the United States, though isolated cases of violence involving students have occurred over the years, including stabbings and targeted attacks. The Zamboanga incident has again raised questions about security protocols at educational institutions, the availability of guns to minors, mental health support for young people, and the influence of online content and video games. Mayor Olaso described the shooter in one interview as a “very bright student” and a “Roblox fanatic.”
Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a Catholic institution, emphasised the priority of student safety and said it was coordinating with authorities. Parents and the local community expressed shock at the violence unfolding inside a school environment. Philippine authorities have in the past responded to such rare events by reviewing security measures, civil defence planning and the handling of firearms by security personnel or relatives.
As police continue their investigation into the motive, the precise sequence of events and how the weapons entered the campus, the dual tragedy-a student killing a classmate and then himself-has left the Zamboanga community mourning and the wider country confronting yet another instance of lethal violence in a place meant for learning. Officials have not released the identities of the deceased pending formal procedures and family notifications.