Student kills classmate, self in livestreamed attack at Zamboanga school

A high school student in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga shot and killed a classmate before taking his own life on Tuesday, in an attack he livestreamed using a body-worn camera, police said.

The gunman, identified as Grade 9 student Mohammad Mael Jalani, entered the high school building of the Ateneo de Zamboanga university campus carrying two pistols. He first fired at a teacher sitting in front of a class, but missed. He then shot a student on the fourth floor before moving up one floor and killing himself, according to an initial police report.

Two other people were injured in the attack, police and city officials said. Hundreds of students were evacuated from the campus as gunshots rang out, prompting panic and a rush to safety.

A parent, Joe Darryl Jaron, who had just dropped his child at the school, captured the chaos on video. In the footage, students can be seen running as gunshots are heard in the background, with Jaron saying, "There are gunshots here in Ateneo, help, help, help."

The high school building is located in a secured campus, separate from the main campus of the privately owned Catholic university, which houses its colleges and professional schools. Ateneo de Zamboanga, one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the southern Philippines, suspended classes at all levels for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The attack comes just two months after a school shooting in central Tacloban city, where three high school students were killed and at least 20 others were wounded. Police had assured the public that security in schools would be strengthened following that incident, in which two students, aged 14 and 15, were arrested.

Police said the situation at the Zamboanga campus was under control a few hours after the shooting.