UPDATE ESTUDYANTE NUEVA ECIJA PINASOK SA LOOB NG SCHOOL NG EXBOYFRIEND/th

On August 7, 2025, a shooting incident disrupted a school in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija. The victim, a minor, was attacked right inside her own classroom by the suspect.

But who would have thought that the root cause of this horrific crime was love? This story has been trending online, and we will discuss the moving update about the victim, as well as why the suspect committed the crime and what triggered it all.

At around 10:45 in the morning on August 7, 2025, the Sta. Rosa Municipal Police Station received a report of a shooting inside Santa Rosa Integrated School in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija. Witnesses to the incident immediately called for an ambulance. Paramedics rushed to the scene and quickly brought both the victim and the suspect to the hospital. Both were in critical condition due to gunshot wounds to the head. The victim’s classmates, who witnessed the crime, were shocked and shaken.

The incident caused deep trauma to students, teachers, and witnesses, as no one had expected such a tragedy to happen. The female victim was identified as Zane Etado, 15 years old, from the province of Nueva Ecija and the youngest child of her parents. In June 2024, Zane met a young man who won her heart.

The man was identified as Menard Kanoza, 18 years old. Zane and Menard were schoolmates at their former school. They quickly fell for each other and soon began a relationship. After a year, however, Zane decided to break up with Menard.

Zane told him she wanted to focus on her studies, which was why she ended the relationship. To distance herself from him, Zane transferred to another school. At the time of the incident, she was a Grade 10 student at Santa Rosa Integrated School. Menard, however, did not accept her decision and refused to let go.

Even after the breakup, Menard would often go to Zane’s house to try to win her back, but he was always unsuccessful as Zane refused to come out and speak to him. Still, Menard kept showing up, hoping for a chance to talk to her. His persistence continued, but eventually, anger consumed him after being rejected and avoided.

This all culminated in the horrifying crime when Menard suddenly entered Zane’s school. Standing outside her classroom, he demanded that his ex-girlfriend come out while she was in the middle of class.

Zane firmly refused to leave the classroom, no matter how much Menard insisted. Losing patience, Menard suddenly entered the classroom and, without warning, shot Zane. He then turned the gun on himself.

Police later recovered the firearm used by the suspect inside the classroom. According to the school’s security guard, both Zane’s and Menard’s families could hardly believe what had happened. The guard said that at first, he was able to prevent Menard from entering the school because Menard was no longer a student there.

However, the guard theorized that Menard waited for other students to leave the campus and then slipped in along with them, allowing him to enter unnoticed. The guard also noted that the suspect seemed agitated and persistent.

According to reports, both Zane and Menard were rushed to Nueva Ecija Doctor’s Hospital, but Menard’s family later transferred him to Paulino Garcia Memorial Hospital. Neither the families nor the hospitals gave any statement.

One news report claimed that at one point, the suspect even drank a chemical in front of the girl’s relatives as a form of protest because Zane refused to speak to him.

Meanwhile, classes at Santa Rosa Integrated School have been temporarily suspended. In addition, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Santa Rosa conducted a psychosocial intervention for the classmates, other students, and teachers who witnessed the grim crime.

According to the school’s night security guard, they question non-students who attempt to enter the campus, but they do not perform body searches because they are not licensed security guards. This is why they could not determine where the suspect got the gun he used, although the school gates were closed.

The only relative who spoke to the media was the suspect’s grandfather, who was also shocked by the incident. He asked the public—and Zane’s family—for understanding.

A social media post by Menard before the crime also went viral. In it, Menard wrote that he loved Zane “until death” and that she was the only woman for him forever. He also said Zane was the most beautiful girlfriend he had ever had, the only one who truly loved him, and the only one he had ever cared for. The post appeared to contain hints of a suicide threat, as Menard wrote that he no longer cared what would happen next.

DepEd Nueva Ecija also conducted a parallel investigation. In an official statement, the agency condemned the incident, calling it unacceptable, and stressed that schools must remain safe spaces for students, teachers, and staff. They appealed to everyone to remain calm and work together to restore peace at the school where the crime took place.

August 8, 2025 — one day after the incident — Zane and Menard were still in critical condition at the hospital. That day, Zane’s mother, Elvy, sought help through a senator’s public service program. On air, Elvy said that Zane had not yet undergone surgery and pleaded for her daughter to be transferred to another hospital so she could be operated on as soon as possible.

According to police handling the case, the suspect Menard was no longer in the hospital, as his family had taken him home despite his critical condition. Authorities did not disclose the agreement made between Menard’s family and the hospital. Police also said they had requested assistance from the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office to determine the owner and registration of the gun used by Menard.

Based on the investigation, the firearm had no serial number — commonly referred to as a “paltik” (homemade or unlicensed gun). Authorities assured that they would try all possible methods to recover the serial number, which may have been scratched off or erased by Menard.

Police also revealed that the suspect’s father was a former barangay watchman (Barangay Tanod) who had left the job due to illness, while his mother was an overseas Filipino worker (OFW). The police were unable to get a statement from the father to confirm whether the gun was his, as the man often lost consciousness and was in very poor health.

The senator promised to give all necessary assistance to Zane’s family. Later that same day, August 8, 2025, at around 3:40 p.m., news broke that Menard had passed away. According to his family, they decided to take him home from the hospital because, at that point, the only thing keeping him alive was the medical equipment attached to him.

When Menard was brought home to his family’s house, he passed away shortly afterward. In the first interview with Zane’s mother, Elvy, she said she still could not believe what had happened to her youngest child. Elvy shared that she knew the suspect, Menard, well and that he had been close to their family, as Zane and Menard’s relationship had been legal.

She said Menard had been kind and was always at their home in the past. However, months after Zane and Menard became a couple, Elvy began to notice something unusual about him—Menard was extremely jealous. Because of this, Elvy decided to end her daughter’s relationship with him. She was also the one who decided to transfer Zane to another school, as their relationship was already affecting Zane’s studies.

Elvy recounted that even Zane’s teacher had told her about Menard’s possessiveness, noting that the suspect didn’t want Zane to speak with any male classmates. For Elvy, what Menard wanted was impossible, since Zane and her male classmates were in the same classroom.

Elvy added that Menard once asked her to help him transfer to Zane’s new school. She told him she would help him transfer—but not to the same school as her daughter. Meanwhile, Zane’s grandfather and family appealed to the public for donations to cover Zane’s surgery expenses.

The operation would cost around ₱1 million. According to Zane’s grandfather, three days after the crime, his granddaughter was still unconscious and remained comatose. Meanwhile, Menard’s body lay in wake at his family’s home. Police, in a statement, said they were considering the case of Zane’s shooting closed since the suspect, Menard, was already dead and could no longer be charged.

On August 10, 2025, Zane’s mother granted another interview to a journalist. She described Zane as a sweet and kind girl who always informed her whenever she went out. Every morning, Elvy would be greeted by her daughter’s warm smile and cheerful “good morning.”

She said Zane was never rebellious and always focused on her studies. Teachers described her as hardworking and intelligent. Elvy asked the public to include her beloved daughter in their prayers so she could recover soon.

The doctor attending to Zane was also interviewed. According to the doctor, when Zane arrived at the hospital’s emergency room, she was already comatose, her blood pressure was low, and she could no longer breathe on her own. If she had not been rushed to the hospital immediately and placed on life support, she might not have survived.

The doctor stated that at that time, Zane’s condition was still critical and unstable. Performing surgery in such a state would only further endanger her life. The operation could worsen her condition rather than improve it.

When asked if Zane had shown any response despite her condition, the doctor said they were all hoping she would respond soon and begin to recover. The doctor also explained that if Zane underwent surgery to remove the bullet or was transferred to another hospital, there was a high risk she could suffer cardiopulmonary arrest—a sudden stopping of the heart.

The doctor also showed a video revealing the location of the bullet in Zane’s head. The bullet is currently lodged at the back right side of her head. The doctor said that since Zane was first brought to the hospital, there has been no significant improvement in her condition, and the amount and dosage of medication needed to keep her stable have only continued to increase.

The doctor clarified that all of Zane’s hospital expenses since her admission are fully covered by the government and the Department of Health (DOH). Both the doctors and Zane’s family are praying for her condition to improve and stabilize so that she can undergo surgery.

Police reminded parents to regularly monitor their children’s activities. They also stressed the importance of maintaining open communication between parents and children so that any serious problems they may be facing can be discussed and resolved.

Meanwhile, police are still investigating where Menard got the gun he used to shoot himself and his girlfriend. Zane’s family has asked the public to pray for her safety and recovery.

In another story, a man from Brazil was also shot in the head but, miraculously, was not immediately hospitalized. Even more surprisingly, due to being extremely intoxicated, he didn’t realize that he had been hit by a bullet.

The man, identified as Mateus Fauso, even managed to party for four days after being struck by a stray bullet. He thought it was just a prank and assumed someone had simply thrown a rock at his head. He also said he did not hear the gunshot. The incident happened on New Year’s Eve.

A day later, while driving, he found that he could no longer move his hand. At first, he could barely move his fingers and hand, but the condition worsened, prompting him to go to the hospital. Upon arrival, he learned that he had been hit by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve.

Doctors said Mateus was lucky that his condition was not more severe. The bullet had been pressing on his brain, which was causing the loss of movement in his hand. That same day, Mateus underwent surgery, and fortunately, the bullet was successfully removed.