MANILA, Philippines — As per careful digging into the circumstances, it was established that there was “no conspiracy” during the fatal shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) and that the young shooter planned everything all by himself and “acted alone” during the incident, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Thursday.
“The police report will come out in due time but the facts remain that there was no conspiracy behind it. There is no conspiracy behind it. There was no active group with him. There was no family influence that made him do it,” Remulla said in a press briefing held at the ADZU.
“He planned, executed and willfully acted everything on his own,” he said.
On Tuesday morning, two students died, a Grade 10 and the Grade 9 shooter himself when the latter relentlessly shot people and killed himself quickly after.
According to Remulla, security measures were in place at the ADZU given the directive to strengthen safeguards in schools to prevent violence.
Remulla earlier said the university employs 25 security guards with two police mobile units positioned outside school premises and that everyone is searched and frisked upon entry but those coming in through vehicles are not. Despite the shooting, security measures of the school are not lacking, Remulla said.
“The protocols followed by Ateneo de Zamboanga were at par with industry standards,” he said.
Remulla also mentioned having instructed university authorities to resume normal living despite the incident.
“I have asked Father to resume classes, to continue with the counseling for these people to realize that life must go back to normal,” Remulla said.
“The city must come together, the city must realize that Zamboanga is safe, the country must know that Zamboanga is safe and furthermore we must know all around the country that our children are safe,” he added.
