Manila, (AFP) - Three people were killed Sunday in a shooting at a university in the Philippine capital, Manila , officials said, in what appeared to be a rare targeted assassination.

The incident occurred at the Ateneo de Manila University as law students and their family members had arrived for a graduation ceremony to be attended by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

The alleged shooter has been arrested.

Authorities said Rose Furigay, a former mayor in the restive southern state of Basilan, whose daughter was among the graduates, was killed.

Police said an aide to Furegay and a security guard from the university were also killed. She added that her daughter was injured and is in the hospital, and her condition is stable.

"We are devastated and heartbroken by this incident," Joy Belmont, the mayor of the local government unit where the shooting took place, told AFP.

The Philippines rarely witnesses shootings in schools and universities, despite its lenient rules regarding the possession of firearms, but the assassination of politicians is common, especially during election periods.