School gunman in Philippines kills at least two people

A student yesterday killed at least two people at a school in the southern Philippines before turning the gun on himself, officials said, the country’s third deadly campus attack since June.

Local rescuers received a call about gunfire on the campus of Banga National High School in South Cotabato province in Mindanao at about 1:30pm.

“One male and one female were killed, both Grade nine students,” disaster agency worker Rizalie Dedel said, adding that the gunman had taken his own life.

Police investigators stand next to a pool of blood after a shooting incident near a classroom entrance at a high school in South Cotabato’s Banga town, Philippines, yesterday.

Photo: AFP

South Cotabato provincial governor Reynaldo Tamayo said the shooter had been a classmate of the victims.

“He is a student of that school, grade nine,” Tamayo said.

At least three people were being treated for gunshot wounds at a local hospital, he said.

The shooter had used a “very well-maintained” 9mm handgun and acted alone, Tamayo said.

Banga Mayor Albert Palencia said the suspect, the son of Philippine Department of Education officials, had taken the gun from a home safe.

The grade nine student had warned two friends of his plan to do it “right after lunch,” he said.

Police have yet to confirm the age of the shooter.

In a video posted to Facebook, a man can be seen carrying what appears to be a wounded child from the school, rushing him into the sidecar of a waiting motorbike.

The shooting comes one month to the day after a student livestreamed himself shooting a schoolmate dead before taking his own life at another school in Mindanao.

Live shooter drills were conducted across the Philippines this month to bolster security.