Police officials on Thursday, August 20 told Senate probers that the Ateneo de Zamboanga student who opened fire and shot dead a schoolmate before taking his own life indeed had the motive to kill.

During the Senate Committee on Women and Children’s hearing on the Zamboanga school shooting incident, Zamboanga City Police Office Director PCol. Fidel Fortaleza, said one of the theories being pursued by police is the manner by which the shooter-victim was able to bring in two licensed firearms inside the school.

The way the shooter bypassed the usual security checks clearly shows he had the intention to open fire that day.

“So, that is one angle we are looking at—that there was indeed a motive for him to bring a weapon and for the shooter to shoot our victim. That is an indication. It indicates that he truly had a motive for bringing the gun,” Fortaleza said, responding to a query posed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

According to Fortaleza, the shooter was dropped off in a pickup truck carrying a bag containing the guns. Instead of entering through the gate where security guards were stationed, the student was dropped off at a ramp area where only few security personnel were on duty.

“Based on our initial investigation, the firearms were inside the vehicle and were taken by the child. The child brought them to school. He bypassed the security guard's proper inspection and managed to reach the building's fourth floor, evading the ADZU security guards conducting checks,” Fortaleza said.

AdZU Chairman of the Board of Trustees Pedro Rufo Soliven affirmed this during the hearing, stating that the ramp where the shooter’s vehicle entered were for persons with disability (PWDs) or those injured.

“The ramp is basically used only for those who are injured and PWD students and they were not supposed to use that at that time,” Soliven said.

Soliven also said that at least 25 guards were deployed in all the entry points of the school.

After entering the premises, Fortaleza said the shooter proceeded directly to the fourth floor; shots were first fired in Room 405 before moving to Room 404, where the student victim was struck and subsequently died.

After this, the shooter went up to the fifth floor and shot himself.

According to Fortaleza, police officers witnessed the shooter taking his own life while authorities were attempting to stop him.

“Our responding police officers witnessed the incident; they issued a warning, shouting for the individual to drop the gun. However, the CICL (children in conflict with the law)—who was both the victim and the shooter—went up to the fifth floor and shot himself there. Our responding officers witnessed this unfold,” the policeman said.

Fortaleza said the Philippine National Police (PNP) is now conducting forensic examination of the shooter’s mobile phone.

“As of now, the process regarding the device is still ongoing. The child's phone is an iPhone 14, so it has rather high security features. Our Anti-Cybercrime Group is doing everything possible to unlock the child's account and the mobile phone,” he said.

At the same time, he said the PNP is now studying the equal liability of the shooter’s father, as the gun owner.

“The gun owner is responsible for the safety, handling, securing and safekeeping of the firearms…as I mentioned, the investigation is being handled at the regional level; our regional director is closely overseeing the inquiry into the various angles and the preparations for legal action, all to ensure the security of our schools,” he said.

Soliven, meanwhile said, the AdZU community is still treating reports that there was already a threat prior to the incident as unverified as the University is still looking deeper into the unfortunate event.

“At this point, Madam Chair, we cannot give any information to that because we are still trying to dig all the facts and we don't want to be speculative,” he said in response to Hontiveros.

“Although we acknowledge that there are no verified information at this point in time and we don't want to derail or add more information that will somehow confuse the final outcome of the report or the pending investigation, Madam Chair,” he further said.