MANILA, July 24: Three people were killed and two others injured in a shooting incident Sunday afternoon on a university campus in Metro Manila, the Philippine police said. The arrested gunman has admitted to the killing with specific target, Xinhua reported.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) confirmed that the shooting took place at 14.55 local time at the gate of Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, ahead of the law school’s graduation ceremony.
Local media reported that former Lamitan mayor Rose Furigay, her bodyguard, and a school security guard who tried to stop the shooting were among the dead. The mayor’s daughter, who was supposed to graduate, was among the injured.
Police identified the gunman as Chao Tiao Yumol, a 38-year-old physician from Basilan, an island province in the southern Philippines.
According to the police, the gunman changed his clothes after the shooting and seized a car in an attempt to escape, but was caught by the police. The police presented the suspect to the media three hours after the shooting.
Yumol admitted to the killing, claiming he shot Furigay for her “involvement in illegal drugs” in the province.
The shooting incident forced the school authorities to cancel the graduation rite and put the campus “on lockdown”.
Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said he was “shocked” over the incident and ordered law enforcement agencies “to thoroughly and swiftly investigate these killings and bring all involved to justice”.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Alexander Gesmundo was supposed to attend the law school graduation ceremony Sunday afternoon. Supreme Court spokesperson Brian Hosaka said Gesmundo was “in transit when the shooting happened and was advised to turn back”.
The shooting happened while the authorities enforced a gun ban over President Marcos’ first State of the Nation address scheduled for Monday. Police has ordered tightening of security at the House of Representatives complex, also in Quezon City and a few kilometers away from the campus, with over 20,000 police and troops being deployed in the area. -TVS
