Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Chalssea Kate Echegoyen

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787104701106Screen Shot 2026-08-18 at 8.05.55 AM (9).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The façade of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, where two students, including the suspect, were killed and two others were injured during a shooting incident on August 18, 2026, according to local authorities. <em>Queenie Casimiro</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The firearms used in the deadly shooting at a high school campus in Zamboanga City were taken from the vehicle of the suspect’s father, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said Wednesday.</p><p>Nepomuceno said the father, the chief of the Bureau of Customs Police in Zamboanga, normally used the vehicle to bring his son to school. However, on the day of the incident, the father’s driver brought the child instead.</p><p>“Supposed to be, babalikan siya ng driver niya. Nagkaroon tuloy na access ‘yung anak niya sa mga baril niya,” Nepomuceno said.</p><p>The two firearms were inside the vehicle, according to Nepomuceno. One was a service firearm owned by the BOC and entrusted to the father, while the other was his personally owned firearm.</p><p>Both guns were taken by the child, Nepomuceno said. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/18/gun-issued-to-customs-officer-used-in-ateneo-de-zamboanga-shooting-1606">Gun issued to Customs officer used in Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting</a></div><p>Initial reports indicated that the longer firearm was used in the shooting, while the pistol was later used by the suspect to shoot himself.</p><p>Nepomuceno said investigators have yet to determine exactly where inside the vehicle the firearms were kept and whether they were visible or otherwise accessible.</p><p>“We have to find out what really transpired inside the car,” he said.</p><p>The commissioner also said it remained unclear whether the child had previously been taught how to use a firearm.</p><p>“Hindi ko pa rin alam at this point. We will have to find out eventually,” Nepomuceno said.</p><p>Nepomuceno said he, along with DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, will be visiting Zamboanga for further investigation.</p><p>He said the circumstances surrounding the driver’s presence in the vehicle and how the child was able to obtain the firearms would form part of the ongoing investigation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, and National Bureau of Investigation.</p><p>Nepomuceno said the father was immediately relieved from his post following the incident, not because the BOC was holding him responsible for his son’s actions, but because authorities needed to establish how government-issued firearms came into the child’s possession.</p><p>“As a public official, of course, he should have been more careful on how to ensure that his guns are safe and will not be accessed by his children,” Nepomuceno said.</p><p>The BOC chief also ordered a full inventory of firearms issued to the agency’s personnel following the incident.</p><p>“We’ll have to remind them again… our officers should be diligent in making sure that indeed they will 100 percent do what we expect them to do with regard to gun access,” he said.</p><p>Nepomuceno emphasized that firearms entrusted to government personnel should not be accessible to other people, including their children.</p><p>He said firearm safety mechanisms exist, but these may still be operated by someone who knows how to use the weapon.</p><p>The shooting left two people dead, including the gunman. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/8/18/what-we-know-so-far-about-the-ateneo-de-zamboanga-shooting-suspect-1214">What we know so far about the Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting suspect</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/8/19/zamboanga-city-declares-day-of-mourning-suspends-classes-after-school-shooting-0742">Zamboanga City declares Day of Mourning, suspends classes after school shooting</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DXnASn9dyns?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPxMqxKyE50?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The firearms used in the deadly shooting at a high school campus in Zamboanga City were taken from the vehicle of the suspect’s father, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said Wednesday.</p>

The firearms used in the deadly shooting at a high school campus in Zamboanga City were taken from the vehicle of the suspect’s father, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said Wednesday.

Zamboanga school shooter took 2 guns from Customs exec father’s car–BOC chief

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Zamboanga school shooter took 2 guns from Customs exec father’s car–BOC chief

Chalssea Kate Echegoyen,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 19, 2026 10:16 AM PHT

Read More:

Ateneo de Zamboanga University

Ateneo

School shooting

Crime

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