Tacloban shooting suspect posted gun-related videos online

MANILA, Philippines — One of the suspects in the shooting at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City on Monday posted gun-related videos on his social media account, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

“Upon verification of the social media accounts of one of the suspects, we saw that he had posted violent videos pertaining to guns, including a video of him firing a gun,” PNP public information chief Col. Allen Rae Co said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.

“So, he very obviously had plans. If the school authorities or anybody were able to monitor these red flags, this could have been prevented,” he added.

READ: Tacloban City school shooting suspects may have been bullied

The incident occurred at around 9 a.m. on Monday, when two Grade 9 students opened fire in at least two classrooms inside the school premises in Barangay San Jose.

Co identified the suspects by their aliases: Nash, 14; and Rod, 15.

The PNP public information chief added that investigators are verifying claims that Nash had been wearing clothes similar to those worn by school shooters in other countries.

“This could be some of our students imitating what’s happening in other countries, specifically the United States, where we know many incidents like this have happened,” Co said in Filipino.

Three students were killed during the attack, while three others were wounded by gunfire and four more were injured as they rushed to escape, according to the PNP.

The suspects are currently under police custody, awaiting turnover to the city social welfare department in accordance with Republic Act No. 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, Co noted. /mcm