ANOTHER SCHOOL SHOOTING LEAVES 2 DEAD

TWO students, including the alleged gunman, on Tuesday died in another gun attack that occurred inside a school in a span of almost two months.

The latest gun attack occurred around 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, August 18, at a school attached to the privately-run Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City.

The shooting was reportedly livestreamed by the suspect, a Grade 7 student, on his social media account.

On June 22,  three students were killed when two students went on a shooting spree inside the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.

In last Tuesday’s shooting, the Grade 7 student brought a pistol and a rifle onto the school campus and fired at his fellow students who were inside the classroom.

There were sketchy reports that nine other individuals were wounded in the gun attack which prompted police to lockdown the area.

The suspect, who was reported to be the son of a local customs worker, was shown in circulating videos carrying a long firearm and a pistol before shooting at a fellow student who was in front of a classroom and later firing at the other persons inside.

Witnesses said the victims were listening to their instructor when the suspect arrived and started shooting without any provocation.

The students in the classroom ran for their lives as  the suspect moved to another classroom and fire more shots at other victims before allegedly turning the gun on himself.

The body of one of the victims was found inside the building while the suspect was discovered dead, with his firearms recovered near his body,  in what could have been a case of suicide.

Members of the Zamboanga City Police Office rushed to the scene to secure the Jesuit-run school compound and conduct a thorough investigation.

The Department of Education (DepEd), in a statement, said it is coordinating with mental health partners to provide psychological first aid and psychosocial support to the affected students and school personnel.

Meanwhile, Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno has ordered the preventive suspension of the father of the  Zamboanga school shooter.

Nepomuceno said he directed the “relief and preventive suspension” of the customs police officer who owned the guns used by the minor suspect.

He also instructed all concerned personnel to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the proper authorities.

Nepomuceno likewise ordered a strict 24-hour deadline for all BOC units to submit compliance reports detailing an accounting and inventory of all issued service firearms.

Senators called for an investigation and proposed stronger school-safety measures after the shooting incident at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School.