Three people, including former mayor of a Basilan town, were killed in a shooting incident that took place at the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) on Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City, on Sunday afternoon. Another person sustained injuries in the shooting. 

The unidentified gunman, who was armed with two pistols, was taken into custody after the shooting near the gate of the university.

The university was put under lockdown and the graduation rite at a law school was canceled following the shooting, authorities said, Associated Press reported. 

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Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who was supposed to be a speaker at the ceremony, was on the way to the university when the shooting took place and was advised to turn back, officials said.

Quezon city Mayor Joy Belmonte condemned the attack.

“This kind of incident has no place in our society and must be condemned to the highest level,” she said in a statement.

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Those killed in the shooting have been identified as 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 ceremony, was injured in the attack and rushed to a nearby hospital. Her condition was not known. 

One of the graduating students said gunshots were heard around 2 pm. 

“Someone shot a bodyguard and girl na binabantayan nila and everyone fled away from the incident. After that may successive shots pa outside and inside Areté,” the student told ABS-CBN News over the phone. 

Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the attack.

The shooting happened despite heavy security and a gun ban imposed by police and other government forces in Quezon city, where newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is to deliver his first state of the nation address on Monday before a joint session of Congress at the House of Representatives.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a statement that he was “shocked and saddened” by the incident. 

“We mourn with the bereaved, the wounded, and those whose scars from this experience will run deep,” he said. 

He also ordered law enforcers “to thoroughly and swiftly investigate these killings and bring all involved to justice.”

“Our prayers go to the graduates, their families, the Ateneo community, and to the residents of Quezon City and Basilan,” Marcos said.