Three killed in Philippine school shooting

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At least three people were killed and five others injured on Monday in a rare school shooting incident in the central Philippines, police said.

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Police have yet to establish a motive for the shooting, which took place at around 9 am (0100 GMT) at San Jose National High School in Leyte province’s Tacloban City.

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“The victims were immediately transported to nearby medical facilities for treatment and appropriate medical intervention,” regional police said in a statement.

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Government broadcaster PTV reported that two people — both reportedly students — had been arrested, with one apprehended at the scene.

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“The PNP has already caught the suspects. They acted quickly,” presidential spokeswoman Claire Castro told reporters.

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While school shootings are a rarity in the Philippines, targeted gun violence is a fixture of provincial politics.

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In 2022, three people, including a former city mayor, were killed in a shooting incident before a graduation ceremony at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippine capital.

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It was later determined to have been an assassination driven by “personal motives”.

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Legal gun ownership is tightly regulated in the Southeast Asian country, but a large black market exists for firearms.

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AFP

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