Philippine school shooting guns tied to customs agent

Philippine customs authorities suspended an agent who owned guns allegedly used by a ninth-grade student who authorities say livestreamed himself killing a schoolmate before taking his own life at Ateneo de Zamboanga University on Tuesday.

The shooting took place at the Catholic private school in western Mindanao. Regional police spokeswoman Shella Chang said the suspect went to the victim's classroom, shot the student, then went to the fifth floor and shot himself.

Interior Secretary Victor Remulla said the suspect had livestreamed the incident on social media. The alleged shooter's Facebook account was later disabled.

Video circulated by local media showed the barrel of a gun moving down a hallway in the style of a first-person shooter video game before being pointed into a classroom and fired. Children in school uniforms were then seen screaming and rushing for an exit.

Police have not confirmed any additional injuries. National police are investigating the motive, the ownership and source of the firearm used, and how it was brought onto the school campus, the interior ministry said.

The customs department said hours later that it had ordered the "preventative suspension" of an agent who owned the guns "allegedly used by the student involved". Customs Deputy Chief of Staff Noel Bendijo said the department acted on information from its officers in Zamboanga and that the information was that the agent was the alleged shooter's father. Bendijo said how the student accessed the firearms remained under investigation.

Police said only that they were still investigating when asked about the customs report.

Ateneo de Zamboanga president Father Guillrey Andal confirmed the two deaths and said the school was cooperating with police. He said the incident had caused deep concern and worry, and that the school's security team had been preparing a safety simulation exercise.

Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Olaso told local radio that video circulated by local media appeared to show the shooter first firing at a teacher seated at a table and missing, then moving to another room and shooting another student.

School shootings are rare in the Philippines, but three teenage students were killed and 20 others wounded in a school attack in the central Philippines in June. Ateneo de Zamboanga was among schools that conducted active-shooter drills after that attack. Legal gun ownership is tightly regulated in the country, but a large black market for firearms exists.