Student shot a classmate to death then killed himself at school in southern Philippines, mayor says

A tragic act of school violence has shaken the southern Philippines, leaving two people dead and two others wounded after a high school student opened fire on campus Tuesday, according to official and law enforcement sources. The 17-year-old suspect, who was armed with two separate firearms, first targeted a teacher before fatally shooting a fellow student and turning the gun on himself to die by suicide, Zamboanga city Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso confirmed in an interview with local broadcaster DZBB. Early investigations suggest the attacker wore a body-worn camera in an apparent attempt to livestream the violent attack to an online audience, which unfolded on the high school grounds of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a prominent educational institution in the city. While the suspect’s first shot was aimed at a teacher, authorities have not yet confirmed whether the educator suffered any injuries from the gunfire. Two additional bystanders were hurt in the incident, though their current conditions have not been updated as of Wednesday morning. This deadly shooting comes less than two weeks after a separate high-profile school attack in Thailand that left multiple people dead. In the wake of that October incident, in which a 14-year-old boy killed eight people including his own grandparents, six school workers and a 12-year-old elementary student in Nonthaburi province just outside Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced immediate emergency measures to tighten gun control regulations across the Southeast Asian nation. Data on regional gun ownership shows that both the Philippines and Thailand grapple with far higher rates of civilian gun possession than most of their neighboring countries. Thailand alone has the second-highest rate of civilian gun ownership in Asia, outpaced only by Pakistan and standing far above the average for Southeast Asia. Gun control advocates have long pushed for stricter regulations in both countries, pointing to repeated outbreaks of gun violence in public spaces including schools as evidence that existing laws are insufficient to prevent mass casualty attacks. As of this report, authorities in Zamboanga city have not yet released a motive for the attack, nor have they released details on how the underage suspect obtained the two firearms used in the shooting.