Zamboanga school shooter wasn't bullied or depressed, Angara says
Content warning: Violence, school shooting, suicide
MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara denied two widely shared speculations about the Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting on Wednesday, August 19, saying there is no truth to reports that the student gunman was bullied or depressed.
"It's not true that the child is being bullied. It's also not true that he is depressed because he has a family network. He has many cousins," Angara told reporters today, after a closed-door briefing with Ateneo de Zamboanga University President Fr. Guillrey Anthony M. Andal, city officials and police.
The motive of the student gunman, Angara said, remains a "mystery." He cautioned the public to wait for confirmed details from the incident.
"It's better to not give conclusive remarks if the evidence is not yet clear," Angara said.
A Grade 8 student from Ateneo de Zamboanga opened fire on his schoolmates yesterday around 7:45 a.m. before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
The reported death toll includes two counts: the shooter himself and a Grade 10 student.
Angara said investigators cannot yet say whom the student specifically sought to target during the attack, which he had livestreamed on social media using a body-mounted camera.
The student allegedly entered two classrooms but fired a gun only in the second room.
"He didn't fire the gun in the first classroom he went to... So it's not really clear who the target is," Angara said.
Asked about reports that the shooter was a heavy gamer, Angara said: "Hindi rin natin alam kung totoo 'yon. Hindi pa conclusive 'yon. Maari, could be a factor but we don't know at this stage."
Angara, however, said the department is not ruling out possible influence on the student by online nihilistic violent groups.
The student brought two firearms to the attack, both owned by his father, a customs police officer at the Port of Zamboanga: one a Bureau of Customs-issued .40-caliber Glock 22 pistol and the other a personal licensed firearm.
How exactly the student got hold of a service firearm is not yet clear. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said today the father's claim that his son grabbed the two firearms from a gun bag left in a car was "highly improbable," given that trained officers know how to store weapons safely.
The father, Lt. Lars Jalani II, has since been placed under preventive suspension by the Bureau of Customs.
At least 21 students were treated for panic attacks, anxiety and minor abrasions following the attack, according to city disaster officials.
It is the country's second fatal school shooting in two months and the first at a private school in recent history. Both incidents stand out as rare incidents because school shootings in the Philippines are not common, even as gun violence is.
In June, three students were killed after a student opened fire on his schoolmates at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.
The incident had prompted the education department to order the conduct of school shooter drills in public and private schools.
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