3 killed, 1 wounded in Philippine university shooting

PTI, Jul 24, 2022, 4:34 PM IST

Image credit: AP/Philippine Police

Manila: At least three people, including a former Philippine town mayor, were killed and another was wounded on Sunday in a brazen attack by a gunman on a university campus in the capital region, officials said.

The gunman, who was armed with two pistols, was captured after the shooting near the gate of the Ateneo de Manila University in suburban Quezon city. The university was put under lockdown and the graduation rate at a law school was canceled, police said.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who was supposed to be a speaker at the ceremony, was en route to the university when the attack happened and was advised to turn back, officials said.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte condemned the attack. “This kind of incident has no place in our society and must be condemned to the highest level,” she said in a statement.

Officials said those killed in the attack were Rosita Furigay, a former mayor of Lamitan town in southern Basilan province, her aide, and a university guard.

Furigay’s daughter, who was supposed to attend the graduation ceremony, was wounded and taken to a hospital, a police report said.

Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the attack.

The shooting happened despite heavy security and a gun ban imposed by police and other government forces in Quezon city, where newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is to deliver his first state of the nation address on Monday before a joint session of Congress at the House of Representatives.