Shooting at Philippine high school leaves three dead and up to eight injured

Classroom shooting at Banga National High School

Gunfire broke out inside classrooms at Banga National High School in the southern province of South Cotabato on Friday, 18 September 2026. Emergency response teams and police units were dispatched to the campus in the municipality of Banga around 1:15 p.m. local time (05:15 GMT), shortly after midday lunch concluded. Police identified the shooter as a ninth-grade student, reported by officials to be 16 years old, though preliminary police logs noted an age between 14 and 15. The gunman opened fire on his classmates before turning the weapon on himself. Online video footage verified by news agencies showed teachers and staff evacuating students, including an adult carrying a wounded child from the building, while confusion initially spread over whether a second assailant was involved.

Casualty counts and conflicting government assessments

Local authorities confirmed that the gunfire resulted in three deaths on campus, comprising a 14-year-old male student, a 14-year-old female student, and the teenage gunman. Banga Mayor Albert Palencia reported that eight other students sustained gunshot wounds, with four remaining in critical condition at local medical facilities. Rolly Doane Aquino, head of the South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, initially noted six hospitalizations alongside the three deaths. In contrast, the national Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) released a separate statement citing six fatalities and 17 students suffering severe injuries. South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. clarified that provincial casualty figures remain preliminary while authorities await the final report from the Philippine National Police.

“It hurts me to see this happen in one of our schools.”

Safe breach, firearm source, and online community links

Investigators established that the gunman used a 9mm Glock pistol owned by his father, an employee at the Department of Education and an active member of a local shooting club. Mayor Palencia stated that the teenager accessed the weapon after forcibly breaking open a locked safe inside the family residence. Earlier during the school day, the suspect reportedly sat beside friends and warned them to return home after lunch because he intended to carry out a plan, though classmates dismissed the remark as a joke due to his reputation for prank-playing. Following the attack, police cybercrime specialists discovered that the student had posted materials in an online true-crime group. Cybercrime investigators are examining whether that network, which law enforcement previously linked to violent extremist content, influenced his actions.

“We must be responsible in keeping firearms. We cannot expect a handful of security guards to watch over thousands of students.”

Heightened scrutiny on school safety and firearms

The incident marks the third fatal shooting at a Philippine school since June 2026, prompting municipal officials to suspend all school classes across Banga. In June 2026, two students opened fire at a public high school in Tacloban, killing three classmates and injuring between seven and twenty people, an attack that led to a Senate inquiry into online violent subcultures. In August 2026, another secondary student in Zamboanga live-streamed the fatal shooting of a classmate inside a classroom before committing suicide. While Philippine law requires gun owners to pass psychiatric evaluations, undergo drug testing, and clear criminal background checks, police data indicates that thousands of illicit firearms remain in circulation nationwide.