The shooting took place on Tuesday at a school affiliated with Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City, where a Grade 9 student reportedly brought a pistol and a rifle onto campus and opened fire inside a classroom.
According to a preliminary police report, the gunman killed a male Grade 10 student before taking his own life. Two other students were wounded in the incident.
Footage aired showed students taking cover inside a classroom as several gunshots were heard.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting and determine measures to prevent violence 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.
The incident is the second school shooting reported in the Philippines in less than two months.
In June, at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured after two students opened fire at a public high school in Tacloban City in central Philippines.
School shootings are relatively uncommon in the country, which maintains restrictions on gun ownership, including background checks and psychological assessments.
However, illegal firearms remain in circulation.
Footage showed students and parents gathered outside the school, while armed police officers and soldiers were deployed around the premises. Crime scene investigators were also seen arriving at the school.
The school is a five-storey building located on an eight-hectare site that houses grade school and junior high school students, according to its website.
The shooting occurred less than 10 days after a separate school shooting in Thailand, where a student reportedly went on a shooting rampage at a school outside Bangkok.
Ojo Triumph
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