Boy stops gunman from entering classroom during school shooting incident
A 14-year-old boy bravely held back a gunman during a school shooting incident at Banga National High School in South Cotabato, Philippines, last Friday (18 Sept).
The Grade 9 student, equivalent to Secondary 3 in Singapore, was shot in one hand, but remained on guard at the door of their classroom to protect his classmates.
Source: ANC 24/7 on Facebook
Boy wanted to protect his classmates
The student, identified as Bryan Pamonag, said they were having a meeting inside their classroom when they heard shooting outside.
The gunman soon arrived at their door and started shooting his classmates, prompting the others to run to the restroom.
“He tried to enter the classroom, but I kicked him out and closed the door,” Bryan recalled.
The gunman then fired a shot at him, wounding his hand. Despite this, Bryan continued to guard the door.
Source: Max Fm Tacurong City 91.1 Official on Facebook
“I was thinking, I won’t give up. If I give up, he’d be able to enter and do something to us,” he shared.
I’ll just sacrifice myself for my classmates. If he was able to enter, I won’t be the only one who’ll get shot, but my classmates too.
Bryan said that, besides him, at least two other classmates were shot during the incident.
School shooting leaves three dead
The gunman was identified as a 16-year-old student.
According to reports, the suspect left his classroom at 1.15pm and began shooting.
The shooting rampage left three students dead, including the gunman, while eight were seriously wounded.
Later, investigators found that the firearm used in the attack was owned by the suspect’s father, who is a government employee.
The suspect allegedly broke open the vault where the firearm was kept. The police will reportedly investigate how the teen accessed the firearm.
Source: Lelanie Ybañez on Facebook
The town mayor also raised the possibility that online content may have influenced the suspect.
He said police found that the student was a member of an online group called “True Crime Community”, where posts about school shootings were shared.
During a press briefing on 19 Sept, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the suspect was influenced through the dark web and suffered from depression.
Gunman warned some classmates
Group chat conversations recovered from the suspect’s phone showed he had planned the attack as early as August, Inquirer reported.
He had intended to execute it on 3 Sept, but didn’t push through.
It appeared that some of his classmates knew about his plan to carry out a shooting on Friday and skipped school.
Hours before the incident, the suspect also reportedly told friends and classmates to go home after lunch, as he was going to execute his plan then.
However, they dismissed his warning, as the student is reportedly known to joke around.
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Featured image adapted from Max Fm Tacurong City 91.1 Official on Facebook, ANC 24/7 on Facebook.
