Second Philippine school shooting in 2 months hits Jesuit university

Catholics in the Philippines observed a day of mourning Wednesday, one day after a shooting at a Catholic school left two students dead.

A ninth-grade student shot and killed a classmate in the grade above him on the morning of Aug. 18 at the junior high school campus of Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the southern Philippines before taking his own life, police said.

Authorities have identified the attacker only as a minor. Officials said he livestreamed the attack on Facebook.

The junior high school is part of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1912. The institution educates students from grade school through postgraduate level.

Father Guillrey Anthony Andal, SJ, the university president, canceled classes at all levels and declared a day of mourning and prayer across the universityʼs campuses. “We do not want any of these things to happen,” he said, adding the safety of students was the universityʼs first priority.

The university urged the public in a statement not to share unverified information, photographs, or videos of the incident, saying these could harm those affected and hinder the investigation.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, which represents the countryʼs Catholic schools, colleges, and universities, cautioned against speculation, saying in a statement that behind every report and social media post were students, families, and teachers in “profound grief and shock.” Ateneo de Manila and Ateneo de Davao universities issued statements of solidarity, local media reported.

The attack was the second at a Philippine school in two months. Three students were killed in June when two schoolmates opened fire at a public high school in Tacloban City in the central Philippines, local media reported.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an investigation and directed agencies to work with schools on safety measures. Schools “must also be among the safest places in our country,” he said in a statement. Education Secretary Sonny Angara traveled to Zamboanga City on Wednesday to meet the university president, city officials, and police.

A senior Bureau of Customs official told local media one of the weapons used had been issued by the agency to the attackerʼs father, a customs enforcement officer at the Port of Zamboanga, who has been placed under preventive suspension.