(UPDATE) A former Basilan town mayor and two others were killed after a shooting incident took place near the Ateneo De Manila University on Sunday afternoon, about an hour before the university's law school graduation rites, the Quezon City government said.
Former Lamitan, Basilan Mayor Rose Furigay, a guard at Ateneo, and an unidentified male, likely the personal security of the former local chief executive, were killed in the shooting incident that forced the university to put its campus on lockdown and cancel of the graduation ceremony, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement posted by PTV.
The suspect of the incident, identified as Chao Tiao Yumul, is also now under police custody, she added.
The MMDA was the first to report about the incident, which it said took place at Ateneo Gate 3 near Katipunan Avenue. It added that personnel from the Philippine National Police were on the site as of 2:55 p.m.
The shooting incident occured a few hours before the in-person graduation rites of the Ateneo School of Law, which was scheduled to be held at Hyundai Hall, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights campus at 4 p.m.
The Guidon, Ateneo's official student publication, reported that the campus was put on lockdown following the incident and that "shelter-in-place protocols for those inside campus were being enforced."
At 4:27 p.m., the university announced that the Ateneo School of Law's 2022 commencement exercises had been cancelled.
"Ateneo is continuing to work with the police and other authorities to deal with the incident," it added.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo was supposed to attend the Ateneo School of Law's graduation ceremony as its guest speaker, but he was advised to turn back after the shooting incident happened, according to the high court's spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka.
"The Chief Justice is safe," Hosaka was quoted in a tweet by the Supreme Court Public Information Office.
Belmonte denounced the shooting incident, which she said "has no place in our society and must be condemned to the highest level."
"We request the Quezon City Police District to continue investigating this incident and ensure that swift justice be attained by the victims and their families. We also extend our sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives in the incident," she added.
President Bongbong Marcos also expressed his sympathies to the families of the victims of the shooting, and offered prayers to the graduates, their families, the Ateneo community, and to the residents of Quezon City and Basilan.
"We commit our law enforcement agencies to thoroughly and swiftly investigate these killings and bring all involved to justice," he added.
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