[5][4][7][8] The attacker, identified as Chao-Tiao Yumol, successfully targeted former Mayor Rose Furigay of Lamitan, Basilan, who was at the university to attend her daughter's graduation.

About an hour before the attack, a graduation ceremony was scheduled to be conducted for students of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law.

[9] The perpetrator was able to enter the campus through a GrabTaxi with his weapons left unchecked despite the imposition of a gun ban as part of the heightened security for Philippine President Bongbong Marcos's State of the Nation Address the following day.

[13][12] Federico Pascual Jr., a columnist at The Philippine Star, opined that "the Ateneo incident could be described as a mass shooting" but the Quezon City police said that the gunman "was targeting Furigay, with other victims presumably just collateral damage.

[15] She was killed along with a security guard, Jeneven Bandiala, who was attempting to thwart the gunman,[16] and Victor George Capistrano, Furigay's executive assistant.

[31] The acting spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Col. Medel Aguilar, confirmed this and emphasized that no army personnel was involved in the shootings.

[34] Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte denounced the shooting, stating that "this kind of incident has no place in our society and must be condemned to the highest level" while extending condolences to the victims' families.

"[37] Members of the Ateneo de Manila community also pledged to provide financial support to Bandiala's family and launched a QR code payment donation channel.

[19] The perpetrator's father, Rolando Yumol, was shot dead by two unidentified men on board a motorcycle in front of his house in Lamitan days later after the incident.