Philippine police said on Tuesday that a school shooting in the central city of Tacloban that killed three students and wounded 20 others on Monday was a premeditated attack carried out by two minors aged 14 and 15, according to local media reports.
According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), the suspects arrived at San Jose National High School armed with a 9mm pistol and a .38-caliber revolver and began firing before entering school buildings, ABS-CBN News reported.
Police spokesperson Colonel Allen Rae Co said evidence indicated the attack had been carefully planned.
“This was planned. They were already shooting from the windows before entering the school buildings. This is murder,” Co told local broadcaster DZMM.
Investigators said one of the suspects reloaded his pistol during the attack and carried two magazines of ammunition. The second managed to fire only one shot before being apprehended.
Police also said that one of the firearms belonged to the aunt of a suspect, an active police officer in Eastern Visayas.
The officer has been relieved of duty pending an investigation into how her service weapon was accessed. Authorities said social media videos showed the officer teaching her nephew how to handle and fire the gun.
Of the 20 people injured, 15 suffered gunshot wounds, including a student grazed in the head by a bullet.
Videos circulating online showed terrified students hiding in classrooms as gunfire erupted, while others fled the campus in panic. Local officials confirmed that all three fatalities were students.
