Authorities probing possible Tacloban school shooting, 1999 Columbine incident link

Authorities are investigating if the deadly shooting incident at a school in Tacloban City on Monday is related to the 1999 school shooting in Columbine in Colorado, United States that left 13 dead.

In Oscar Oida’s report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday, the links between the two incidents – which happened almost 30 years apart – is being probed after a 14-year-old suspect in the Tacloban City school shooting was seen wearing a black shirt with the letters “KMFDM.”

Netizens said this shirt was similar to the t-shirt worn by one of the shooters in the Columbine shooting in 1999, in which two students shot and killed 13 of their fellow students.

“We are checking, ‘yung mga ano... This could be some of our students imitating ‘yung nangyayari sa ibang bansa, specifically sa US na alam naman po natin na marami na nangyaring ganito. So we’re checking on that,” said Police Colonel Allan Rae Co, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

(We are checking... This could be some of our students imitating what is happening in other countries, specifically in the US, where many incidents like this have happened. So we’re checking on that.)

Police will investigate, among several things, the social media accounts, search history, online communities, and the digital footprint of the minor-aged incidents in the shooting.

“Very important po dito ‘yung sinabi natin na ‘yung monitoring system ng student behavioral behavior because upon verification of the social media account of one of the suspects, may nakita po tayong mga pinost na violent videos pertaining to guns, video of him firing a gun. So ito ay very obviously red flags,” Co said.

(The monitoring system of student behavior is very important, because upon verification of the social media account of one of the suspect, we saw violent content pertaining to guns that was posted, a video of him firing a gun. These are very obviously red flags.)

Police are also looking into the possibility that the minor-aged suspects may have been influenced by Gorebox, a gaming app.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) has temporarily banned Gorebox while authorities are investigating if the gaming app had any role in the shooting incident.

Government agencies are also ramping up their monitoring of online platforms to protect the youth from potential dangers online.

“I have already ordered that this particular application and game be suspended and be blocked from the Philippine jurisdiction pending the investigation,” said Undersecretary Aboy Paraiso, CICC executive director.

According to experts, there is a danger in exposing youths to violent content on the Internet.

“If we will analyze what’s happening there is really a possibility that what kids see in the internet or in cyberspace might influence them. Whether masamang ginawa ‘yan halimbawa sa ibang bansa, tendencies ng ibang tao, terrorism, recruitment to armed group, tsaka ‘yung cyber bullying, online sexual abuse. All these bad things can be found in the Internet,” said Undersecretary Angelo Tapales, executive director of the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC).

(If we will analyze what’s happening there is really a possibility that what kids see in the internet or in cyberspace might influence them. Whether it’s something bad done in other countries, other people’s tendencies, terrorism, recruitment to armed group, cyber bullying, online sexual abuse. All these bad things can be found in the Internet.)

The CWC urged the public to report such incidents to their hotline, 1383.

“If you see students, mga kaklase niyo na binubully, that they are in distress na maaring may mental health concern sila or nagiging prone na sila sa pagawa ng karahasan, tumawag po kayo sa amin 24/7 tutulungan namin kayo basta bata po kami ang bahala,” Tapales said.

(If you see students, your classmates being bullied, that they are in distress, that they might have mental health concern or they might be prone to committing violence, you can call us 24/7. We will help you, as long as a child is involved, we will take care of it.) — JMA, GMA News