A 16-year-old gunman shot dead two students and injured eight others at a high school in Banga, in the southern Philippine province of Mindanao, before killing himself. The two deceased victims were 14-year-old pupils, local mayor Albert Palencia told the BBC. Four of the injured are in critical condition.
Palencia told Reuters that during a lunchtime conversation on Friday, the gunman had urged friends to go home “because after lunch, [he would] be executing [his] plan.” His friends laughed because the shooter was a known joker. “After lunch, he started shooting students. He hit 10 students before killing himself,” Palencia said.
Philippine Red Cross workers and local rescue personnel were on the scene. The Red Cross said it was alerted at 14:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and dispatched an ambulance with four paramedics. Police are investigating the shooting.
The education department said it was “deeply concerned” by the incident and that its immediate priority was the safety and well-being of learners, teachers, and school personnel. It added it was coordinating with authorities to verify the incident and provide support. “We urge everyone to remain calm and refrain from sharing unverified information as authorities continue their investigation,” it said in a statement.
Classes have been suspended “in all levels in the entire municipality of Banga.” South Cotabato governor Reynaldo Tamayo urged adult gun owners to “be responsible in storing firearms” and ensure minors do not get access to them. “We cannot expect a handful of security personnel to monitor thousands of students. We need to work together because otherwise this will be very difficult for us to address,” he told Reuters.
This is the third deadly school shooting in the Philippines since June. In June, three students were killed and more were injured after their peers opened fire at a high school in central Philippines; investigators believed it was motivated by a “grudge” over bullying. In August, a student at a Catholic junior high school in the southern Philippines shot dead a fellow student and later took his own life. Gun crime is not uncommon in the Philippines, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, but school shootings are rare.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk