Alleged Zamboanga City school shooter dead — DILG

[Updated Aug. 18, 2026, 6:19 p.m.]

MANILA, Philippines — The alleged perpetrator of the shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University died on Tuesday morning, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed.

Remulla identified the alleged perpetrator as a Grade 9 student.

“He entered and started indiscriminately firing, hitting [a Grade 10 student] at the fourth floor. Subsequently, [the Grade 9 student] went to the fifth floor and jumped from the said building,” Remulla explained.

“It’s not yet sure if he shot himself before jumping, but his head wound, the picture of him on the floor, the head wound was apparent, but that’s not normal in a suicide, that kind of blood, so we still have to get the full investigation report,” he added.

A document shared by the Philippine National Police Public Information Office (PNP PIO) stated that the Grade 9 student “allegedly turned the firearm on himself.”

It added that he allegedly used a standard pistol and another pistol “fitted with a Roni Conversion kit to make it appear as a rifle.”

The secretary also confirmed that the child in conflict with the law (CICL) had livestreamed the act on his Facebook account.

“Nilagay niya sa Facebook Live ng bata habang umaakyat siya ng hagdanan, pero short snippets lang eh. Hindi siya full snippet nung mahabang shooting (He put it on Facebook Live while he was going up the stairs, but it was just short snippets. It’s not a full snippet of the long shooting incident),” he said.

The PNP PIO document also stated that scene of the crime operation personnel were now conducting an investigation, while probers continued to dig deeper into the CICL’s background.

The police added that investigators were now looking into how the firearms were snuck into the school premises, who owned the firearms and whether they were registered, and whether the school administration had any lapses.

Remulla said investigators were looking into the CICL’s chat and gaming history.

“The shooter, however young and troubled he may have been, is himself a victim of what I believe are video games inhabited by actors who induce terror, influencing young and fallible minds,” he added.

This came after Zamboanga Mayor Khymer Olaso, in an interview on ANC, claimed that the shooter was a fan of the game Roblox.

Roblox previously figured in an alleged foiled attempt to attack a school in the Calabarzon region earlier this year. /mr/mcm