Campus shooter ‘planned attack, warned classmates’

BANGA, South Cotabato — The 16-year-old student who allegedly went on a shooting rampage at Banga National High School on Friday had planned the attack as early as August and had warned some classmates hours before carrying it out, according to Mayor Albert Palencia.

Palencia said Saturday that police investigators had briefed him on the teenager’s alleged plans based on group-chat conversations recovered from the student’s cell phone.

The conversations reportedly showed that the attack was initially set for Sept. 3 but did not push through, the mayor said.

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READ: Angara proposes inter-agency task force after Cotabato school shooting

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Some classmates apparently knew about the plan and skipped school on Friday, Palencia said. Hours before the shooting, the teenager allegedly told friends and classmates to go home after lunch because he was about to carry out his plan.

The warnings, however, were reportedly dismissed as jokes because the student was known among his classmates for joking around.

Warning signs

The revelations raised questions about whether warning signs had been missed before the attack and whether the student’s plans could have been detected or reported before he entered the school armed.

Palencia said he was briefed on the investigation and had also spoken with the suspect’s class adviser, who described the teenager as an achiever in a special class and a taekwondo player.

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He was considered well-behaved and had not been known as a problem student in school, the mayor said.

Gun taken from father

The teenager allegedly left his classroom around 1:15 p.m. and began firing, Palencia said.

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A 14-year-old Grade 9 student, identified by her grandfather as Rhea, was among those who witnessed the shooting.

READ: Gun in South Cotabato school shooting traced to DepEd employee

Rhea’s grandfather, Lito, told reporters his granddaughter saw the suspect shoot a male student before entering their classroom.

Citing the girl’s account, Lito said only a few students were inside the classroom when the shooting began. During the gunfire, Rhea felt something graze her side and later noticed what appeared to be black powder residue, which she wiped off.

A reddish mark was also seen on her side.

Because the injury appeared minor, Rhea did not initially seek hospital treatment and was brought home after the incident. Authorities later referred her to a hospital for medical examination, her grandfather said.

Palencia said investigators had determined that the firearm used in the attack was allegedly owned by the teenager’s father, a government employee.

The student reportedly broke open a vault where the firearm was kept and took the gun to school, according to the mayor’s account of the investigation.

The alleged access to a family-owned firearm is likely to form a key part of the investigation, particularly as authorities determine how a minor obtained the weapon and brought it into a campus with thousands of students.

Banga National High School has more than 3,000 students but only one security guard, Palencia said, making it difficult to thoroughly inspect everyone entering the campus.

Even the use of a detector would not make it practical to individually screen thousands of students, he said.

The mayor said he had recommended to the Schools Division superintendent that security checks should not be left solely to the school guard.

Security gaps exposed

Palencia suggested that class advisers could also help check students as they enter their classrooms, while parents should inspect what their children are carrying before they leave home.

Keeping firearms and other weapons out of schools, he said, would require cooperation among parents, teachers, students and security personnel.

The shooting has renewed scrutiny of security measures in public schools, with Education Secretary Sonny Angara acknowledging on Saturday that the education sector was not adequately prepared for school shootings.

“We really need to strengthen security measures because we were truly not prepared for shootings like this,” Angara told reporters during his visit to Banga National High School.

He said DepEd had traditionally focused on students’ academic performance while schools continued to face gaps in physical security, including fencing and the availability of security personnel.

Strengthening school security would require the cooperation of DepEd, local governments and communities, Angara said, noting that the department lacked sufficient funds for school fences.

He thanked the South Cotabato provincial government for funding security guards at the school.

The investigation is also expected to examine the teenager’s online activities.

Palencia said police found that the student was allegedly a member of an online social media group called “True Crime Community,” or TCC, where posts about school shootings were reportedly shared.

The mayor raised the possibility that such online content may have influenced the student, but stressed that authorities had yet to establish this as the motive for the shooting.

Investigators were examining the recovered group chats and looking into other members of the online community to determine whether anyone else may have been involved in planning the attack.

DICT, DILG assistance

Angara said DepEd would seek assistance from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of the Intterior and Local Government (DILG) in examining the circumstances surrounding the shooting, including possible online influences on the student.

He also referred to a handwritten note reportedly linked to the teenager but said he was uncertain about its authenticity.

“We really want to investigate that because we are not familiar with it. We will ask for help from the DICT and the DILG,” Angara said.

He said the circumstances surrounding the note and any possible influence on the teenager needed to be thoroughly investigated.

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The investigation into the shooting is expected to establish not only how the teenager obtained the firearm and entered the school armed, but also whether the alleged plans and warnings in the weeks and hours before the attack could have provided opportunities for authorities, school officials or classmates to intervene. INQ