Two people were killed in a shooting at a Catholic junior high school in the southern Philippines on Tuesday (Aug 18) and the situation was now under control, officials said, in the second such incident in the country in nearly two months.
The shooting took place at a school attached to the Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the southern city of Zamboanga. The city's mayor Khymer Adan Olaso told DZMM radio both casualties were students and one was the shooter, who used a "high-powered firearm".
"In the video, we see that he first shot at the teacher who was sitting at a table," Olaso said, referencing a screen-grabbed video being circulated by local media.
"It seems he missed, then moved to another room ... he shot another student there, the one who fell.
"It seems two others were also injured, probably before he killed himself."
The university's president Ernald Andal confirmed there was no longer an active shooting and there were no additional fatalities or reported injuries.
"As of now, we confirm that there are two fatalities," Andal said. "There are no more active shooters."
The school separately confirmed there had been two fatalities.
"The safety of our students is our top priority," it said in a statement.
"We have already coordinated with parents and guardians to pick up their children and the university has ensured the safety of those remaining on campus."
Regional police spokesperson Major Shellamie Chang said police forces were trying to secure the school campus, but she could not immediately provide other details.
In a video circulated by local media that was seemingly live-streamed on Facebook, the barrel of a gun can be seen moving down a hallway in the style of a first-person shooter video game before being pointed into a classroom and fired.
Children in school uniforms are then seen screaming and rushing for an exit.
The alleged shooter's Facebook account has since been disabled.
School shootings are rare in the Philippines, and Ateneo de Zamboanga had conducted an active shooter drill only last month.
In June, there was an attack at a public high school in Tacloban City in which at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured after two of their schoolmates opened fire on campus.
Legal gun ownership is tightly regulated in the Southeast Asian country, but a large black market exists for firearms.
This shooting comes less than 10 days after a high-profile incident in Thailand, where a student went on a shooting rampage at a school on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok.
Source: CNA
-Agencies
