Three people, including the suspected gunman, were killed in a shooting at Banga National High School in South Cotabato province in the southern Philippines on Friday, officials said. The Philippine National Police said several other people were wounded and taken to hospital.
Emergency services received the report at about 1:30 p.m. local time. South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo said the two student victims were a 14-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, while the third person who died was the alleged gunman.
Banga Mayor Albert Palencia was quoted by Reuters as saying that eight people were injured, four of them critically. The police said responding officers secured the school and coordinated with school officials and medical responders to assist those affected and protect students and staff.
Authorities had not immediately identified a motive. DW also reported that videos shared online appeared to show a man carrying a wounded child from the school, while another recording included a teacher saying there had been two shooters and a student describing them as outsiders. Those accounts had not been confirmed by police in the supplied report.
The shooting remained under investigation. DW noted that school shootings are rare in the Philippines and that gun ownership is tightly regulated, while also citing several recent incidents at educational institutions.
In August, according to DW, a student opened fire at a private university, killing another student and wounding two before dying by suicide. In June, three pupils were killed and about 20 injured in an attack in Tacloban City, after which two suspects, aged 14 and 15, were arrested.