A high school student in the Philippines killed a fellow student before committing suicide in a livestreamed Tuesday morning school shooting.
The suspected shooter – identified as Mohammad Mael Jalani – was reportedly carrying a rifle and a pistol when he opened fire on the campus.
The deadly incident Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a private Catholic High School in Zamboanga. The Philippines’ Interior Department Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed to the state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the perpetrator was a 9th grade student, while the victim was a 10th grade teenager. The Associated Press (AP) identified the shooter as 9th Grade student Mohammad Mael Jalani.
Remulla detailed that at around 07:50 a.m. (local time, the perpetrator entered the high school bringing “one pistol and one rifle” and started firing indiscriminately — hitting the 10th grade at the building’s fourth floor student before going upstairs to the 5th floor and committing suicide by jumping.
Per the Secretary, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is presently conducting an investigation to establish the motives behind the shooting, the origin and ownership of the firearms used, and how they were brought inside the school campus.
“That’s the big question because there were security guards at the gate. So, he was still able to slip [the firearms] in. I don’t think there were metal detectors. The rifle could be hidden inside a long bag, the gun could be concealed,” Remulla said, per a translation provided by PNA.
“We need to know if those firearms were registered or unregistered so we can find out where they came from,” he continued.
PNP chief, Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. detailed that the situation at the high school is now under control, stressing that the police force will provide further verified information as appropriate.
Per AP, Secretary Remulla further detailed that the shooter livestreamed snippets of his actions through Facebook Live and said, "We'll look into his gaming history and his chat history so we cannot come up with a complete answer why this happened until we do a complete forensic analysis."
AFP reports that videos circulating on social media shot he barrel of a gun down a hallway in what was described to be a resemblance of a first-person shooter video game before the weapon is pointed into a classroom and fired.
Per PNA, the Philippines’ Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) asked the public to abstain from sharing the gruesome footage of the shooting that is circulating on social media. The Asian nation’s Department of Health announced that it is deploying a team of mental health and psychological support services to provide assistance to those affected by the tragedy.
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University reportedly declared a day of mourning and prayer across its campuses for Wednesday, August 19. The school institution suspended all classes to honor the victims and to support the grieving community.
Tuesday’s incident marked the second deadly school shooting that has occurred in the Philippines in nearly two months. In June, two students opened fire against their fellow classmates at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban, killing three students and leaving several others injured.
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