Three dead in shootings in the Philippines

Gun fire

Three dead in shootings in the Philippines.

A gunman opened fire on a university campus in the Philippines’ capital region on Sunday, killing a former mayor and two others in an attack before a graduation ceremony, police said.

The suspect was armed with two handguns and was caught in a car trying to flee the Ateneo de Manila University in suburban Quezon City, police said.

He was blocked by witnesses and authorities outside the university gates.

The newly elected president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised that the attack would be swiftly investigated and that those behind the killings would be brought to justice.

He is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress in the House of Representatives on Monday also in Quezon City, where police and other law enforcement had imposed a weapons ban and increased security before the shooting.

Those killed in the attack included Rosita Furigay, a former mayor of Lamitan town in southern Basilan province, her aide and a university guard.

Furigay’s daughter, who was supposed to attend the graduation, was injured and taken to the hospital, a police report said.

Investigators were trying to determine the motive for the attack, but Quezon City Police Chief Brig. Gen. Remus Medina said the suspect, apparently a doctor, had a long-standing feud with Furigay.