MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A high school student carrying two guns shot and killed a fellow student before killing himself Tuesday in an attack on the campus of a southern Philippine high school that he livestreamed using a body camera, police and other officials said. It was the second fatal school shooting in the country in just two months. Hundreds of students were evacuated after gunshots were heard at the high school building at the Ateneo de Zamboanga university campus in the southern port city of Zamboanga. Two other people were injured, police and city officials said. The suspect, identified by police as Mohammad Mael Jalani, a ninth-grade student, shot at a teacher sitting in front of a class, but apparently missed. He then shot a student on the fourth floor of the building before going up one floor and killing himself, police said in an initial report. “He entered and started shooting indiscriminately, hitting a 10th grade student on the fourth floor and subsequently went to the fifth floor, jumped off the building and committed suicide,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters. “He showed this on Facebook Live from when he was walking up the stairs, but there were only snippets,” Remulla said. “We will analyze your gaming history and chat history so we cannot find a full answer as to why this happened until we do a full forensic analysis.” Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso and police said the suspect shot himself. The high school building, where the gun attack occurred, is located on a secure campus, separate from a larger campus of the private Catholic university where its faculties and professional schools are located in Zamboanga. The Ateneo, one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the south, suspended classes at all levels on Tuesday and Wednesday following the attack. Joe Darryl Jaron had just taken his son to school when he heard gunshots, causing students to scream in panic and run to safety. He took a video of the commotion and posted it on Facebook. “There are shots fired here at the Ateneo, help! Help,” he said. 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 advice and provisions of the secondary school for picking up their children. “Authorities are currently establishing the circumstances surrounding the incident,” said national police chief Gen. José Melencio Nartatez Jr. Police “will provide verified information as appropriate and call on the public to refrain from sharing unconfirmed reports, photographs or videos that may cause unnecessary concern.” Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. The national police “assure the public that the safety and well-being of the school community remains 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. One of the guns carried by the suspect came from his father, who was the police commander of the Bureau of Customs in Zamboanga, Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs Nolasco Bathan told reporters. He added that he recommended the temporary suspension of the father, who could face administrative charges for failing to adequately protect the government-issued pistol. The shooting occurred despite police assurances that security would be beefed up at schools across the country after a shooting in June that left three high school students dead and at least 20 others wounded in the central city of Tacloban. Police arrested two students, ages 14 and 15, and charged them with carrying out that shooting. Crimes involving the use of firearms are common in the Philippines, in part due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare. Days after the Tacloban school shooting, Philippine authorities said they temporarily blocked an online gaming app to assess whether it played a role in fueling such violence. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center said its decision to block Gorebox indefinitely was motivated by an ongoing police investigation that showed a suspect was an avid user of the app. The shooting in the Philippines also occurred less than two weeks after a school shooting in Thailand. Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul moved to restrict guns in the Southeast Asian country after a 14-year-old boy killed his grandparents, five school staff 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.___Associated Press writers Joeal Calupitan in Manila, Philippines, and Haruka Nuga and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.
