MANILA: A school shooting in Tacloban that left three students dead and 20 others injured was apparently planned for weeks by two teenage suspects, Philippine police said, as they stepped up security in the city’s educational institutions on Wednesday.
The shooting, which took place at the San Jose National High School in the capital of Leyte province on Monday morning, sent shockwaves across the country as no similar incident has been recorded in its recent history.
Two suspects, aged 15 and 14, both students at the school, fired at least 34 rounds, killing three peers and wounding 15 others. Five more children sustained injuries not caused by gunfire, according to an investigation by the Philippine National Police.
“All indications point to the fact that it was really planned,” Col. Allen Rae Co, police spokesperson, told reporters.
“Initially, it appears that the motive of the crime was a grudge for school bullying.”
Eastern Visayas Police chief Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy said investigators believe that the suspects may have planned the attack for more than a month and were aware of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.
“They had been planning for it since April or May,” he said, according to the Philippine News Agency.
“It’s alarming that they are familiar with the law.”
Under Philippine law, children 15 years old and below are exempt from criminal liability but can be subject to intervention programs.
The 14-year-old suspect is believed to have used a Glock service firearm belonging to his police officer aunt, who was relieved of duty following the attack. The 15-year-old allegedly used a .38 caliber revolver owned by his grandfather, a former security guard. Most of the shots fired during the attack came from the Glock.
Police and the Department of Education tightened security at schools across the city as educational institutions reopened on Wednesday.
Additional inspections have also been conducted at “other places of convergence, including churches, transport terminals, malls and public spaces, particularly during school opening and dismissal hours,” Police Regional Office Negros Island Region said.
“Intelligence units have been tasked to enhance open-source intelligence and social media monitoring to validate reports of threats and alarming online posts.”
Viral footage shared on social media this week showed the suspects showing off their weapons before the attack.
