Two students held after Philippine high school shooting kills three
Police said two teenage students opened fire at a Tacloban high school, killing three classmates and injuring seven others.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Two students were taken into custody after a shooting at a high school in the central Philippines killed three students and wounded seven others, police said. The attack has prompted a security review at schools and public places after authorities said the suspects brought handguns onto campus.
Regional police chief Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy said the shooting happened Monday morning at San Jose National High School in Tacloban city. He said the two suspects, ages 14 and 15, and the victims were all students at the school.
Capoy said investigators were still working to determine what led to the attack. In early questioning, he said, the suspects told police they had been bullied at school, but he did not give further details.
Police said the two teenagers had no criminal records. Capoy said one suspect used a 9 mm pistol that he obtained from an aunt who is a police officer, and that the aunt was under investigation. Police said the other suspect used a .38-caliber revolver.
Capoy said the government-run school has more than 1,500 students. He said the suspects were able to enter with the firearms because only one guard was working at a campus with several entrances and exits.
According to Capoy, the gunfire began in one classroom and then moved to another after students fled. He said many of those killed or injured were female students, and police recovered at least 40 shell casings at the scene.
Videos posted online showed frightened students taking cover under desks while shots could be heard outside, according to police accounts reported by the Associated Press. Other footage showed students leaving the campus, some holding or comforting one another.
Police said one suspect was arrested at the school. The second suspect fled and hid in a nearby house before officers found him after residents alerted authorities.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a full investigation, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said. Castro said Marcos also directed law enforcement agencies to strengthen security in schools, workplaces and public areas.
Castro said the president was saddened by the shooting and recognized the fear and grief felt by the victims’ parents. The national police urged the public to remain calm and share any information that could help investigators.
Authorities said the suspects were expected to be placed in the care of government welfare officers after the investigation because they are minors. Under a 2006 Philippine law, the 14-year-old would not face criminal prosecution; the law sets 15 as the minimum age for criminal liability, and only when authorities determine the minor understood the act and its consequences.
Gun crimes are common in the Philippines, in part because of the spread of unlicensed firearms, the Associated Press reported. School shootings, however, are relatively rare.
In 2022, police said a man with pistols opened fire at an upscale university in the Manila area before a graduation ceremony, killing a former town mayor with whom he had a long-running dispute and two other people. Authorities said the gunman in that case was arrested.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.