Philippines School Shooting: Student and Teen Gunman Dead in Zamboanga Attack

A student and the teenage gunman have died after a shooting at a high school campus in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, in the country’s second fatal school shooting in less than two months.

The attack happened on Tuesday, August 18, at a school affiliated with Ateneo de Zamboanga University, sending hundreds of students fleeing the campus as gunfire erupted inside the school building.

Police said the suspected shooter, a Grade 9 student, entered the campus carrying a pistol and a rifle. He reportedly fired at a teacher but missed before moving into another classroom, where he fatally shot a fellow student. Two other people were also injured in the attack.

The gunman later went to another floor of the building and took his own life, bringing the death toll to two, including the suspected attacker.

Authorities said the incident was livestreamed using a body-worn camera. Officials are investigating how the student obtained the firearms and what may have motivated the attack. Reuters reported that at least one of the weapons was believed to have belonged to the suspect’s father, a government customs official.

The shooting triggered an immediate security response, with students evacuated from the campus and classes suspended. Authorities later said the situation was under control and there was no continuing threat to students or staff.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr condemned the attack and directed law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident and determine measures that could help prevent further violence in schools.

“Our schools are where we entrust our children to learn, to grow and to dream about the lives ahead of them,” Marcos said, stressing that schools must be among the safest places in the country.

The latest incident has renewed concerns about school safety and young people’s access to firearms in the Philippines. It comes less than two months after a June shooting at a school in Tacloban City that left three students dead and several others injured.

The back-to-back incidents have raised fresh questions about how firearms are reaching young people and whether additional measures are needed to prevent school violence.

Authorities in Zamboanga have continued their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Tuesday’s shooting, including the source of the weapons and the events leading up to the attack.