In brief
In Zamboanga City, a .45‑calibre pistol was smuggled into a Catholic junior high school, where a student was shot dead and the assailant committed suicide. The incident follows another school shooting in Tacloban City two months prior that left three students dead and twenty wounded. Authorities say the shooting was contained swiftly after the suspect was stopped. The event raises questions about gun security, violent media influence, and the protection of youth in Southeast Asia.
Student killed in Philippines Catholic school shooting
A student at a Catholic junior high school in the southern Philippines was shot dead by a fellow student, who later took his own life, a local official said on Tuesday.
The alleged shooter managed to sneak in a .45‑calibre pistol into a classroom at the school in Zamboanga City, Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso told local radio.
The suspect fired at a teacher seated at the table, but missed. Afterwards, he moved to another classroom and shot a student who later died, Olaso said.
Alleged livestream footage of the shooting, circulated by local media, showed what appeared to be a first‑person perspective, with a gun barrel moving down a hallway, AFP News Agency reported.
The situation was under control and there were no more active shooters, authorities said.
The incident comes two months after a high school shooting in Tacloban City in the central region that left three students killed and 20 others wounded.
If the suspect was a teen who disliked games, the previous incident involved teenage shooters who regularly played an explicitly violent online game that has now been banned in the Philippines.
Across Southeast Asia, authorities are looking at restricting social media use for minors, citing possible ill effects. Earlier this month, a Thai teenager killed eight people and himself at his school, saying he had consumed violent content on social media.