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School Shooting in Philippines Leaves Three Dead
Confirmed
In Short: A shooting at Banga National High School in the southern Philippines killed three students and injured six others, including the suspected 16-year-old gunman.
A shooting at Banga National High School in the southern Philippines on Friday left three students dead and six others injured, including the suspected gunman, a 16-year-old student.
The Philippines Red Cross and local rescue personnel were on the scene to assist the injured.
This is the third deadly school shooting in the Philippines since June, highlighting the growing concern over gun violence in the country.
Nationwide live shooter drills were conducted this month to strengthen security following the recent school shootings.
The Philippine National Police said the incident remains under investigation, with authorities securing the campus and coordinating with school officials and medical responders.
Background
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands, with a total area of about 300,000 square kilometers.
A school shooting is an armed attack at an educational institution, involving the use of a gun. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple casualties.
What's confirmed
- MANILA, Philippines -- A shooting at a high school in the southern Philippines on Friday left at least three young people dead and six others injured, including the gunman, a local official said.
- Rolly Doane Aquino, a provincial disaster response official in South Cotabato province, said three people were killed and six others were hospitalized after the shooting at Banga National High School in the town of Banga.
- The circumstances of the shooting remained under investigation.
- “After lunch, he started shooting students. He hit 10 students before killing himself,” Palencia added.
- At least eight people were also injured in the country’s third deadly school shooting since June.
- The attack is the third school shooting to take place in the country in recent months.
- Emergency personnel walk at a site of a deadly shooting at a school in Banga, South Cotabato, Philippines, on Sep 18, 2026. (Photo: Philippine Red Cross via Reuters) MANILA: Three students were killed in a school shooting in the southern Philippines on Friday (Sep 18), including a 16-year-old suspected gunman who turned the gun on himself, provincial officials said.
- Eight others were injured, with four in critical condition, and all the victims were students aged 14 to 17, said Albert Palencia, mayor of Banga town in South Cotabato, where the shooting took place.
What's still developing
- The attack was reported on Friday in Banga town in South Cotabato, in the southern Philippines.
- The education department said in a statement it was "deeply concerned" by the reported incident which took place on Friday afternoon at Banga National High School.
- "Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of our learners, teachers and school personnel," the education department said, adding it was coordinating with authorities to verify the incident and provide necessary support.
- Classes have been suspended "in all levels in the entire municipality of Banga" due to the shooting, disaster management authorities said in a statement.
- The Philippines Red Cross said it was alerted to the incident at 14:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and had dispatched an ambulance with four paramedics to provide life-saving assistance.
- Police are at the site investigating the shooting, local media reported.
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- Gun crime is not uncommon in the Philippines, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region.