PASACAO, Camarines Sur – Two major universities and a college in Naga City and Pili in Camarines Sur province suspended their in-person classes Friday, 25 September, after a threat about a plan to open fire in a school circulated online.

In an official statement, the Naga City police said it has launched coordination with the Philippine National Police Cybercrime Unit to verify the alleged online shooting threat.

“As preventive measure, we also conducted police visibility, security coordination, and crime prevention activities around schools to prevent any possible incident from occurring,” the statement from the Naga City police said, adding that they are taking the alleged threat seriously.

“Anyone proven to be responsible for the threat or spreading of fake information will be held accountable in accordance with the law,” it said.

The first school to raise the alarm regarding the online shooting threat was the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC), through the Facebook page of its college publication The Democrat.

The UNC administration and its security office placed the university under “high alert” after the alleged threat started circulating on social media before classes started Friday morning. The school administration instructed its security personnel to conduct intensified bag and vehicle checks at all the campus entry points.

“Students, faculty, and personnel are also advised to cooperate patiently during security inspections and remain vigilant with their surroundings at all times. The student publication reminds the UNCean community to refrain from sharing unverified screenshots, speculative claims, or secondary rumors on social media to prevent unnecessary panic,” the student publication said in a statement.

The university also sent its elementary and junior high school students home after it decided to suspend in-person classes and shift to asynchronous set up.

The Naga College Foundation and University of Sta. Isabel in neighboring Pili, Camarines Sur followed suit and declared suspensions of in-person classes and shift to online set up for all levels as precautionary measure.

Screenshots of the social media post and chat messages of the alleged school shooting threat obtained by the Daily Tribune from a source revealed that the suspect had told someone of their plan. The suspect also posted a photo of the gun on social media.