Three students killed and five injured in shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban, Philippines
Two teenage suspects opened fire at San Jose National High School in Tacloban on Monday morning, killing three students and wounding five others, police said.
What happened
At around 9 a.m. local time on Monday, two gunmen entered San Jose National High School in Tacloban, Leyte province, and opened fire. Three students were killed and five others were wounded, according to police statements. A widely circulated video verified by AFP shows children screaming and crying as they hid inside a classroom during the shooting.
The suspects
Police have taken two male suspects into custody. One is a student at the school, and both are minors, aged 14 and 15. They are being interrogated at a police station in the presence of their parents. Investigators are still working to recover the weapons and determine how they were brought onto the campus.
We are hearing that bullying was the motivation behind their actions, but we still need to interrogate them.
We are still seizing the weapons, verifying where they got them and how they managed to bring them into the school. We also need to establish the sequence of events.
Response
Regional police said the wounded were immediately transported to nearby hospitals for treatment. Additional forces were deployed to the school to secure the area for students, staff, parents, and residents. Authorities urged the public not to spread unconfirmed information and to cooperate with investigators.
The Philippine Department of Education issued a statement describing the situation as "high-risk" and said central office staff, along with regional and divisional personnel, were on site coordinating with school authorities and security forces to ensure the safety of the premises.
Context
School shootings are rare in the Philippines, though targeted gun violence is a recurring feature of provincial politics. In July 2022, a gunman opened fire at a law school graduation ceremony at Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, killing three people, including a former mayor. That attack was later determined to be a personally motivated homicide. Legal firearm ownership is strictly regulated in the country, but a large black market for weapons persists.
