Two students were killed and eight others wounded at a Philippine high school by a 16-year-old gunman, who then reportedly shot himself.
The local mayor told the BBC that the two victims who died were 14-year-old students at a school in Banga, located in the southern province of Mindanao.
Albert Palencia stated that four of those wounded were in critical condition.
In a statement, the education department said it was “deeply concerned” about the reported incident, which occurred on Friday afternoon at Banga National High School. ↻
Since June of this year, this marks the third fatal school shooting in the Philippines.
“Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of our learners, teachers, and school personnel,” the education department said, adding it was coordinating with authorities to verify the incident and provide necessary support.
“We urge everyone to remain calm and refrain from sharing unverified information as authorities continue their investigation.”
Palencia told the press 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,” Palencia told the press.
“After lunch, he started shooting students. He hit 10 students before killing himself.”
Classes have been suspended “in all levels in the entire municipality of Banga” due to the shooting, disaster management authorities said in a statement.
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The Philippines Red Cross reported that it was notified of the incident at 14:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and sent an ambulance along with four paramedics to deliver life-saving aid.
According to local media, police are present at the scene investigating the shooting.
Gun crime is fairly common in the Philippines, a country with one of the region’s highest rates of gun ownership. Generally, school shootings are uncommon, yet today’s incident is the third fatal campus shooting in the past four months.
In June, three students died and several others were wounded when their classmates opened fire at a high school in the central Philippines. Investigators thought the fatal shooting was driven by a “grudge” linked to bullying.
In August, a student at a Catholic junior high school in the southern Philippines shot and killed a fellow student before taking his own life. In this instance, the suspect shot at the teacher but missed, then went to another classroom and shot a student, who died later.
After Friday’s shooting, South Cotabato governor Reynaldo Tamayo called on adult gun owners to “be responsible in storing firearms” and to make sure minors cannot access 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 said.
