A school shooting in the southern Philippines on Friday resulted in the deaths of three individuals, including a 16-year-old suspected gunman who reportedly took his own life. Provincial officials confirmed the incident, which has shocked the local community and raised concerns about school safety in the region.
Shooting at South Cotabato School Leaves One Dead and Several Injured
A tragic shooting incident occurred in Banga town, South Cotabato, resulting in the death of one student. Eight others sustained injuries, four of whom are in critical condition. All victims were students aged between 14 and 17, as confirmed by Albert Palencia, the mayor of Banga. The community is now grappling with the aftermath of this devastating event.
“After lunch, he started shooting students. Last month, a student live-streamed himself shooting and killing another student in a classroom in Zamboanga in the country’s south before taking his own life. The Philippines has relatively strict gun ownership regulations, including background checks and psychological evaluation requirements, although illegal firearms remain in circulation. The Friday shooting also follows a high-profile incident in Thailand in August, where a student went on a shooting rampage at a school on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok. South Cotabato governor Reynaldo Tamayo urged parents to ensure guns were kept out of reach of minors. “We need to be responsible in storing firearms.
He hit 10 students before killing himself,” Palencia added. In June, at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured in an attack at a public high school in Tacloban, where two classmates opened fire on campus.
Gun owners, in particular, must make sure that minors do not have access to them,” Tamayo told Reuters by phone.
The incident follows two fatal gun incidents since June at schools in the Philippines, where school shootings were previously rare.
“We cannot expect a handful of security personnel to monitor thousands of students. “The suspect supposedly sat beside his friends and told them to go home ‘because after lunch, I will be executing my plan’. Because the shooter was a known joker,” Palencia told Reuters, his friends laughed. Because otherwise this will be very difficult for us to address.” (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.), we need to work together.
