The student involved in the shooting incident inside the Ateneo de Zamboanga Junior High School was allegedly targeting a teacher for revenge, Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said on Wednesday.

In a broadcast interview, Olaso said the suspect was reportedly under pressure over his grades.

"His grades weren’t very high. Although he was an honor student, he seemed to be trying to get higher grades," he said.

"So his motive was the teacher. It seemed like the teacher was the person he wanted to get revenge on," he added.

Olaso also mentioned that the suspect was reportedly experiencing depression.

"Other than that, he was depressed. When he shot at one of the teachers there, he missed. So when he didn’t get what he wanted, he moved to another classroom and started looking for someone else. He was just shooting at whoever he came across, right?," he said.

In a press conference, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said based on initial investigation the suspect was able to bring in a caliber .40 firearm and a caliber 9mm pistol inside the school premises as he was not subjected to inspection because enter the school onboard his father's car.

"The system in Ateneo is if you enter the pedestrian gate, your bag will undergo inspection, the child was riding the vehicle of his father,,, there is no inspection to those who are riding their car," said Remulla.

"The owner of the gun, the shooter’s father, said that he had simply left his gun bag in the car, and the child took the gun from there. We find this highly improbable," he added.

Noting that it is the second gun shooting incident that transpired inside the school premises in the country, Remulla called on Congress to revisit existing gun laws and impose greater accountability on firearm owners as the government moves to address the proliferation of loose firearms.

“All gun owners, whether private or public, should have punitive damages when somebody else uses his or her gun. They should have an accessory penalty,” he said.

“We need a whole-of-nation approach. The PNP (Philippine National Police), Congress, and gun owners need to work together. We are calling on Congress to amend and repeal the law, and to make crimes involving loose firearms a non-bailable offense,” he added. Robina Asido/PHS