Too early to say Zamboanga school shooter’s motive – DILG

MANILA, Philippines — Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Wednesday said investigators have yet to determine what motivated the alleged perpetrator of the fatal Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School shooting.

“We don’t know yet. It’s too early to tell what it could’ve been. We will only present you the facts,” Remulla said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.

“As per reports, he was a Grade A student. He was apparently at the top of his class. So far, Ateneo reported no incidents of bullying against him. We are going to check what triggered his depression,” he noted.

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READ: Remulla: Zamboanga shooter entered campus by car

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Remulla told reporters that investigators have yet to reach out to the child’s teachers to determine whether his grades were a factor.

“We will go through everything. We will leave no stones unturned, [but] we will look at all those angles,” he added.

Earlier in the briefing, the secretary said they had “a great degree of confidence” to say that the shooter was influenced by the game Roblox.

This game also previously figured in a foiled alleged attempt by seven teens to attack a Calabarzon school earlier this year.

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“Roblox, the chat group there, only encourages you. But deep down inside, the child had a problem and we are trying to ascertain that,” Remulla said.

He identified the shooter as a 15-year-old male Grade 8 student, correcting earlier reports that he was a Grade 9 student.

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Also at the briefing, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. noted that the shooter allegedly wielded a caliber .40 pistol and a caliber 9mm pistol.

The firearms belonged to the shooter’s father, a Bureau of Customs (BOC) employee.

BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno earlier told reporters that the shooter’s father had been relieved from his post pending an investigation.

Nepomuceno said the father had apologized to him over the incident.

“We will investigate all shooting ranges if the child was seen there… But according to the father, the child had no experience with a gun,” Remulla said.

He reported that the shooter had allegedly killed a 15-year-old male Grade 10 student and wounded a 15-year-old female Grade 10 student on her back.

He added that a 16-year-old male Grade 10 student had fainted during the commotion.

Remulla, however, said investigators have yet to determine whether the shooter had targeted the victim who died.

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“The forensics have yet to be completed. But, for all accounts, the child was an honor student too, same as him. It seems all the victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he remarked. /apl