Student posted online warnings before attack: 3

Student posted online warnings before attack: 3 | Daily Tribune

One of the posts read: “I buried my old life, now I’m alive again to do deadly things!”

Using the fictitious name “Jay Schwarzenegger,” the teenager also wrote in his Facebook bio:

“If I make a request to you, it means I’m warning you.”

By Monday morning, those ominous words had become reality.

Authorities said the teenager was one of two minor suspects behind the shooting rampage on the school campus that left three students dead and seven others wounded, in what is being described as one of the country’s worst school attacks in recent years.

Investigators later discovered photos on social media showing both suspects posing together while holding a firearm believed to have been used in the attack.

Inside the school, panic erupted as students scrambled for safety.

“There was chaos. Everybody was panicking and we did not exactly know what was happening. I heard gunshots and everybody was running,” said Jenelyn, a Grade 7 student.

Another student recalled the terrifying moments as the suspects fired indiscriminately.

“They were shooting at anyone they encountered inside the school,” the student said.

Irvin Nogar, a 52-year-old social studies teacher, told Agence France Presse (AFP) he was in the middle of a class when he heard several “loud gun shots.”

“I saw a shooter walking towards our area, so I told my students to be calm and hide under their desks and I locked the door… they were crying and in panic.”

The suspects reportedly unloaded more than 40 shots during the chaos.

Authorities said the 15-year-old suspect was subdued and arrested inside the school compound by responding personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) before he was turned over to police. His 14-year-old companion managed to flee amid the chaos but was later arrested after contacting authorities through the 911 emergency hotline to signal his intention to surrender.

Tacloban City Police chief Col. Noel Getigan said one of the suspects claimed he was being bullied at school, an angle investigators are examining as they work to establish a motive for the attack.

Two classrooms targeted

Police Regional Office 8 director Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy said the two suspects entered two classrooms and opened fire, with most of the victims believed to be Grade 9 students — the same year level as the suspects.

“Based on initial interviews, the victims were not specifically targeted,” Capoy said. “After the gunshots were fired, students scrambled in different directions, and it appears the suspects may have chased some of them.”

Capoy said seven students — four girls and three boys — sustained gunshot wounds but are in stable condition.

Authorities recovered a Glock pistol and a .38-caliber revolver believed to have been used in the shooting. The pistol was allegedly sourced from the aunt of one of the suspects, who is a policewoman. The other firearm was reportedly traced to a security agency based in Cebu.

Investigators are trying to determine how the two minors obtained the firearms and how they were able to bring the weapons onto the school campus.

Jennelyn Badoria, mother of a slain 15-year-old student, told AFP she believed whoever had given the shooters access to guns must be held accountable.

“I’m asking that the gun owners be charged, because the guns wouldn’t have ended up in the children’s hands if it weren’t for them,” she said in an interview outside the school.

Security concerns raised

Capoy said the school has multiple entry and exit points, while only one security guard was on duty when the shooting happened.

According to police, the guard was stationed at the guardhouse around 9 a.m., which may explain why frisking procedures were not strictly enforced.

The two teenaged suspects will be turned over to the City Social Welfare and Development Office as authorities continue the investigation.

Marcos orders probe

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a thorough investigation into the shooting incident.

In a statement relayed by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), the President directed authorities to conduct a deep and comprehensive probe while ensuring stronger protection and safety in all areas, especially schools.

“A thorough investigation is ordered into this incident, and we must ensure the protection and safety of all places, offices, establishments, especially schools,” the directive of the President read, as relayed by the PCO.

The PCO said Marcos also expressed grief over the incident, noting that the tragedy has caused fear and sadness among families, particularly the parents of the victims.

“The President is saddened by what happened. Anyone, especially the parents of the victims, would feel sadness and fear,” the PCO said.

A city in mourning

The shooting has left Tacloban reeling, with city officials moving to address school security concerns.

Vice Mayor Raymund Romualdez said he will convene a meeting with police, education and social welfare officials to craft preventive measures to ensure that such violence will never happen again.

“This is the first time this happened in Tacloban — and it should be the last,” Romualdez said.

The Department of Education in Eastern Visayas expressed deep concern for the students, teachers and families traumatized by the violence.

Regional Director Salustiano Jimenez said the DepEd immediately coordinated with police and school authorities to secure the campus and provide psychosocial support to the affected students and school personnel.

Rare but haunting reminder

The incident comes nearly four years after the Ateneo de Manila University shooting in Quezon City on 24 July 2022 where three people were killed and three others were wounded during a law school graduation ceremony.

Killed in that attack were former Lamitan City Mayor Rosita “Rose” Furigay, her aide Victor George Capistrano, and campus security guard Jeneven Bandiala. Furigay’s daughter Hannah and two others were wounded.

The suspect in that case, Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumol, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder, frustrated murder, and carjacking. He has pleaded not guilty.

For Tacloban, Monday’s tragedy marks a grim first — a school transformed into a crime scene, young lives cut short, and a city now searching for answers over warning signs that were visible online long before the bullets began flying.