Three students killed in Philippine school shooting, including gunman, officials say

World philippinesshootingTop News Three students killed in Philippine school shooting, including gunman, officials say 22d1bd20 B337 11f1 910c 69bc1dc40919 Relevant News Three students killed in Philippine school shooting, including gunman, officials say 18 September 2026 Fraud trial against 77-year-old delayed as lawyers demand more evidence 18 September 2026 Police stop car in Engomi, find hundreds of boxes of untaxed cigarettes, fine man €20,000 18 September 2026 newsroom 18 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Three students were killed in a school shooting in the southern Philippines on Friday, including a 16-year-old suspected gunman who turned the gun on himself, provincial officials said. Eight others were injured, with four in critical condition, and all the victims were students aged 14 to 17, said Albert Palencia, mayor of Banga town in South Cotabato, where the shooting took place. The incident follows two fatal gun incidents since June at schools in the Philippines, where school shootings were previously rare. “The suspect supposedly sat beside his friends and told them to go home ‘because after lunch, I will be executing my plan’. His friends laughed because the shooter was a known joker,” Palencia told Reuters. “After lunch, he started shooting students. He hit 10 students before killing himself,” Palencia added. Last month, a student live-streamed himself shooting and killing another student in a classroom in Zamboanga in the country’s south before taking ‌his own life. In June, at least three students were killed and about 20 others injured in an attack at a public high school in Tacloban, where two classmates opened fire on campus. The Philippines has relatively strict gun ownership regulations, including background checks and psychological evaluation requirements, although illegal firearms remain in circulation. The Friday shooting also follows a high-profile incident in Thailand in August, where a student went on a shooting rampage at a school on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok. South Cotabato governor Reynaldo Tamayo urged parents to ensure guns were kept out of reach of minors. “We need to be responsible in storing firearms. Gun owners, in particular, must make sure that minors do not have access to them,” Tamayo told Reuters by phone. “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.” (Reuters) (Featured image from Philippine Red Cross Facebook) Read more: After Philippines school shooting, debate shifts to social media, gun safety Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Fraud trial against 77-year-old delayed as lawyers demand more evidence Police stop car in Engomi, find hundreds of boxes of untaxed cigarettes, fine man €20,000 As Iran war grinds on, Trump to face skeptical world leaders at UN On this day: Jimi Hendrix, U.S. rock singer and guitarist, died of a drug overdose in 1970 Events demand a “European Article 4” Air traffic controllers warn of near-miss with Turkish jet over Cyprus FIR MPs flag gap in scheme for patients needing further treatment abroad Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.