BANGA, South Cotabato — A 16-year-old student who allegedly opened fire at Banga National High School on Friday had planned the attack weeks earlier and warned some classmates hours before the shooting, Mayor Albert Palencia said Saturday.
Palencia said police investigators briefed him on the teenager’s alleged plans after they recovered group-chat conversations from the student’s cellphone.
The conversations reportedly showed that the student initially planned to carry out the attack on Sept. 3, but the plan did not push through.
Some classmates apparently knew about the plan and skipped school on Friday, Palencia said. The teenager also allegedly told friends and classmates to go home after lunch because he intended to carry out the attack.
The students reportedly dismissed the warnings as jokes because they knew the teenager as someone who often joked around.
Warning signs under investigation
The reported plans and warnings have raised questions about whether authorities or school officials could have detected the threat before the student entered the campus with a firearm.
Palencia said the teenager’s class adviser described him as an achiever in a special class and a taekwondo player. The mayor also said the student had a reputation as a well-behaved student and had not previously caused problems at school.
According to Palencia, the teenager left his classroom at around 1:15 p.m. and began firing.
A 14-year-old Grade 9 student, whom her grandfather identified as Rhea, witnessed the shooting. Her grandfather, Lito, said she saw the suspect shoot a male student before entering her classroom.
Lito said only a few students remained inside when the gunfire began. Rhea later noticed a reddish mark on her side and what appeared to be black powder residue after something grazed her during the shooting.
She initially went home without seeking hospital treatment because the injury appeared minor. Authorities later referred her to a hospital for a medical examination, her grandfather said.
Firearm allegedly taken from father
Palencia said investigators traced the firearm to the teenager’s father, a government employee.
The mayor said the student allegedly opened a vault where the firearm was stored and took the weapon to school.
Investigators will examine how the teenager accessed the gun and brought it into a campus that has more than 3,000 students.
Palencia said the school has only one security guard, which makes it difficult to inspect every person entering the campus. He also said individual screening with a detector would pose practical challenges because of the number of students.
The mayor recommended that security checks should not depend solely on the school guard. He suggested that class advisers could help monitor students as they enter classrooms and urged parents to inspect their children’s belongings before they leave home.
Online activity examined
Investigators are also examining the teenager’s online activities.
Palencia said police found that the student allegedly belonged to an online group called “True Crime Community,” or TCC, where members reportedly shared posts about school shootings.
The mayor said the content may have influenced the student, but authorities have not established it as the motive.
Police are examining the recovered group chats and checking other members of the online community to determine whether anyone else helped plan the attack.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Saturday that the Department of Education would seek assistance from the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Department of the Interior and Local Government in examining the shooting, including possible online influences.
Angara also mentioned a handwritten note reportedly linked to the teenager but said he could not confirm 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 acknowledged that schools need stronger security measures, noting that the education sector has traditionally focused on academic performance while some campuses continue to face shortages in fencing and security personnel.
Angara said DepEd, local governments and communities must work together to improve school security. He also thanked the South Cotabato provincial government for funding security guards at Banga National High School.
Investigators are expected to determine how the teenager obtained the firearm, how he entered the school armed, and whether the alleged warnings and earlier plans offered opportunities for intervention.