Three students were killed and eight others injured in a school shooting at Banga National High School in the southern Philippine province of South Cotabato on Friday, authorities confirmed. The attacker, a 16-year-old student, opened fire after lunch and later took his own life, the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) initially reported six deaths, but later revised the toll to three fatalities.

Incident Details and Response

Classes have been suspended in all levels across the entire municipality of Banga following the incident, according to disaster management officials. The Philippine Red Cross was alerted to the shooting at 14:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and sent an ambulance with four paramedics to the scene to provide emergency aid. Police are investigating the motive and circumstances of the attack, while local media reported that the suspect had told his friends before lunch that he would carry out his plan.

According to T-Online, the attacker was known among peers as a “joker” and his friends initially laughed off his warning; the victims were aged between 14 and 17, and included the attacker, who died by suicide after the shooting. The DSWD confirmed that social workers are on site providing psychological first aid and psychosocial support to affected students and families.

Broader Context and Government Response

South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo urged gun owners to take responsibility for securing firearms to prevent minors from accessing them, “We cannot expect a handful of security personnel to monitor thousands of students. We need to work together because otherwise this will be very difficult for us to address,” he said in a statement to Reuters.

Gun violence is not uncommon in the Philippines, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region. However, school shootings remain rare. This incident marks the third deadly campus shooting in the past four months — In June, three students were killed and more were injured when peers opened fire at a high school in central Philippines. In August, a student at a Catholic junior high school in the south shot a classmate and then committed suicide.

Investigations and Support

The Department of Education (DepEd) said it is cooperating with local authorities and police to investigate the incident; the DSWD also noted that mental health and social support services are being deployed to assist those affected. The Philippine government has not yet announced any long-term policy changes in response to the latest attack.