Tacloban school shooting: 15-year-old shooter asked, 'Makukulong ba 'ko?'

A fireman, who was among the people who arrested the 15-year-old shooter at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, said the suspect asked whether he would be jailed after he and a 14-year-old shot up the school, killing three and wounding 20 others.

According to Emil Sumangil's report on "24 Oras," FO2 Ludwig Zosa was passing by when he saw crying children leaving the school.

The minors, he said, told him there had been a shooting and that people inside were wounded.

Zosa said one child held his hand and, in the Waray language, identified the 15-year-old shooter.

He said the suspect mingled with the rest of his schoolmates who were leaving the premises. The suspect even put his arm on the shoulder of a girl, who was a bit shorter than he was.

Zosa said he didn't make any sudden move and waited for the shooter to turn his back before going after him.

When civilians grabbed the 15-year-old, he asked, "Makukulong ba 'ko? Mape-preso ba 'ko?"

(Will I be detained? Will I be thrown in prison?)

Police investigators have earlier expressed concern over the chat exchange between the two suspects, who reportedly discussed not being accountable under the law because of their young age.

The incident has renewed the debate on amending the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, which sets the age of criminal responsibility at 15.

With the police determining that he acted with "discernment" when he fired a gun in school, the authorities filed complaints for murder and frustrated murder against him. –NB, GMA News