On this picture taken from a video, college students react after a capturing incident on the San Jose Nationwide Excessive Faculty in Tacloban metropolis, Philippines Monday, June 22, 2026. (James Daantos by way of AP Picture)
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James Daantos/AP
MANILA, Philippines — Two college students armed with hand weapons opened hearth in a highschool within the central Philippines on Monday, killing three fellow college students and wounding one other seven, police stated.
The suspects, aged 14 and 15, had been arrested. The suspects and the victims had been college students of the San Jose Nationwide Excessive Faculty in Tacloban metropolis, the place the mid-morning capturing occurred, regional police chief Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy stated.
An investigation was underway to find out the reason for the capturing within the government-run college, which has greater than 1,500 college students. Capoy stated that the suspects, who had been shut pals, stated in preliminary questioning that they had been bullied at school. He didn’t elaborate.
They don’t have any prison information. One of many suspects received the 9 mm pistol he used within the assault from an aunt, a police officer, who was now being investigated. The opposite suspect used a cal. 38 revolver. They managed to deliver the weapons onto the campus as a result of there was just one guard on obligation at a number of entrances and exits, Capoy stated.
“The suspects barged into two rooms as a result of after the capturing within the first, the kids scampered and the suspects apparently ran after some victims into one other room,” Capoy informed reporters.
A lot of the useless and wounded had been feminine college students, he stated. Police recovered at the least 40 shell casings on the scene of the assault.
In a video posted on-line, college students hiding below desks in a shut classroom could be heard screaming and weeping as gunshots are heard outdoors. Some known as their moms. Different movies present visibly terrified college students streaming out of the college campus, some holding and embracing one another.
One of many suspects was arrested within the college after the assault however the second fled and hid in a home close by. He was discovered by police who had been alerted by residents, police stated.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a radical investigation of the capturing and requested regulation enforcers to spice up safety in all faculties, workplaces and public areas, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro stated.
“The president was saddened by this incident. Anyone, particularly the dad and mom of the victims, will really feel unhappy and terrified,” Castro stated.
The suspects had been to be turned over to authorities welfare officers after the investigation since they’re minors. The 14-year-old could be exempt from prison prosecution below a 2006 Philippine regulation, which units the minimal age of 15 for a minor to be criminally liable and provided that authorities decide {that a} suspect was clearly conscious of the crime that was dedicated and its repercussions.
The nationwide police have urged the general public to stay calm and cooperate with authorities by offering any data that will help the continued investigation.
Crimes involving using firearms are prevalent within the Philippines, partly as a result of proliferation of unlicensed firearms, however college shootings are comparatively uncommon.
In 2022, a person armed with pistols opened hearth at an upscale college within the Manila metropolitan space forward of a commencement ceremony, killing a former Philippine city mayor with whom the suspect had a long-running feud, and two others within the brazen assault. The gunman was arrested.
