Two teenage students opened fire at a high school in the central Philippine city of Tacloban on Monday morning, June 22, killing three classmates and wounding several others in a shooting that has shaken a country where such attacks at schools are extremely rare.
The gunfire erupted at around 9:20 a.m. at San Jose National High School. Police said two suspects, aged 14 and 15, were taken into custody — one detained at the scene and the other arrested after a brief manhunt. Authorities said the attackers used a .38-caliber revolver and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
Initial police reports cited a “grudge” linked to the alleged bullying of one of the suspects as a possible motive. Investigators said one of the firearms used reportedly belonged to a policewoman who is an aunt of one of the suspects, raising immediate questions about how the weapon was obtained.
Accounts of the number wounded varied as the situation was assessed, with figures ranging from seven to as many as 20 injured; three deaths were confirmed by police.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an investigation shortly after the attack, and his office said he was “saddened by the incident.” Local officials moved to provide counseling for students and families at the school.
While gun violence is common in the Philippines, mass shootings at schools are highly unusual, and the attack is believed to be one of the first of its kind in Tacloban, a city still associated in the national memory with the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Authorities said they would examine how the minors gained access to the weapons and whether bullying at the school had gone unaddressed, as the case revived debate over firearm security and student welfare across the country.