A high school student in the southern Philippines shot and killed a schoolmate before turning the gun on himself on Tuesday, in an attack he livestreamed using a body-worn camera. The shooting took place at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a Catholic private institution in western Mindanao. France 24 Hundreds of students were evacuated after shots rang out inside the high school building on campus, with two other people injured, according to police and city officials. South China Morning Post
Police identified the suspect as Mohammad Mael Jalani, a Grade 9 student who was carrying two pistols at the time of the attack. CP24 He first fired at a teacher seated at the front of a classroom but apparently missed. South China Morning Post According to regional police spokeswoman Shella Chang, the attacker then went to the classroom of the student he is believed to have targeted, shot him, and afterward climbed to a higher floor of the building where he turned the weapon on himself. France 24
In a separate statement, Interior Secretary Victor Remulla confirmed that the ninth-grade suspect had livestreamed the attack on social media, and the alleged shooter’s Facebook account has since been disabled. France 24 In the footage, which was later circulated by local media, the attacker can be seen moving through a hallway with the weapon raised in a manner resembling a first-person shooter video game before entering a classroom and opening fire.
The attack marks the second fatal school shooting in the Philippines in as many months. France 24 It comes despite assurances from authorities that school security nationwide would be tightened following a shooting in June in the central city of Tacloban, in which three high school students were killed and at least 20 others wounded. Two students, aged 14 and 15, were arrested in connection with that earlier attack. KSAT In the wake of the Tacloban shooting, Ateneo de Zamboanga was among a number of schools across the country that conducted active shooter drills. France 24
Following the Tacloban attack, Philippine authorities also moved to temporarily block an online gaming application, after investigators found that one of the suspects in that case was an avid user of the platform, amid efforts to determine whether it had played a role in fostering the violence. KSAT
School shootings remain relatively rare in the Philippines, where legal firearm ownership is tightly regulated, though a substantial black market for guns persists in the country. France 24 Crimes involving firearms remain prevalent nationwide, driven in part by the circulation of unlicensed weapons. KSAT
The latest attack is expected to renew scrutiny of school security measures and the role social media platforms play in the livestreaming and circulation of violent content, as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
This is a sensitive story involving the death of a minor. If you’re processing a high volume of this kind of coverage today, take care of yourself too.
