Two killed in high school shooting in southern Philippines

Two students were killed in a shooting at a high school in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, one of them the gunman, officials said, in the second such incident in the country in less than two months.

The shooting took place at a school attached to the privately-run Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the city of Zamboanga, where the gunman brought a pistol and a rifle onto the school campus and fired at students inside the classroom, according to a preliminary police report.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered law enforcement agencies to investigate and to determine measures to be taken to prevent violence in schools.

"Our schools are where we entrust our children to learn, to grow and to dream about the lives ahead of them. They must also be among the safest places in our country," Marcos said in a statement.

Zamboanga Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso told DZBB radio that authorities confirmed the gunman live-streamed the attack through a body-worn camera.

The motive was not immediately clear, but a senior customs official told reporters that the shooter used a .40-caliber pistol issued by the Bureau of Customs to the student's father, a customs official who has since been relieved from his post.

A second weapon recovered from the scene was a licensed personal firearm also owned by the shooter's father, the official said.

The victim was a male grade 10 student, police said. The gunman, a grade 9 student, killed himself, police said. Two others were wounded.

The victim was found on the fourth floor of the school, while the gunman was later found dead on the fifth floor after taking his own life, city councillor Frederick Atilano said, citing police information.

The school is a five-storey building on an 8-hectare (19.8 acre) site that houses the university's grade school and junior high school students, according to its website.

Several students were treated for injuries suffered during the panic to escape, but no other deaths were reported, he said, adding that classes have been suspended.

Social media footage verified by Reuters showed students from the school running out of the campus building while at least four gunshots were heard in the background.

The shooting followed an attack in June at a public high school in Tacloban City in the central Philippines in which at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured when two of their schoolmates opened fire on campus.

School ​shootings are rare in the Philippines, which has relatively strict gun ownership regulations, including background ‌checks ⁠and psychological evaluation requirements, although illegal firearms remain in circulation.

The incident came 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.