Tacloban school shooting may be 'premeditated' — DepEd exec

An official of the Department of Education (DepEd) said Tuesday there are “indications” pointing that the shooting incident at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City on Monday was supposedly planned.

Dr. Malcolm Garma, DepEd Undersecretary for Operations, said initial reports showed that the two minors’ motive for the shooting may be due to bullying. However, he pointed out that the attacks were "sporadic and random," not targeted.

“Based on the initial investigation, mukhang meron talagang plano. Parang premeditated talaga ‘yung ginawa ng dalawang bata,” Garma said in an interview on Unang Balita.

(Based on the initial investigation, it seems that there really was a plan. It seems like what the two children did was premeditated.)

“There are already indications na talagang pinagplanuhan. Kung makikita natin kung bullying ito, kung apektado sila o na-bully sila, dapat targeted eh, dapat tukoy kung sino eh. Pero seemingly, what happened here is talagang sporadic, random talaga. Lahat ng makita at makasalubong ay binabaril talaga,” he added.

(There are already indications that the shooting was actually planned. If this was due to bullying, the attacks should be targeted, it should be specific who the target was. But seemingly, what happened here was the shooting was really sporadic, really random. They shot everyone they saw.)

The DepEd official, however, clarified that the police are still interrogating the two minors to determine the actual motive for the shooting.

The shooting inside the San Jose National High School in Barangay San Jose in Tacloban City left three people dead and 13 others wounded.

The two minors, aged 14 and 15, were taken into police custody in accordance with juvenile justice and child protection procedures.

Police recovered from the crime scene a caliber .38 revolver and a 9mm pistol allegedly used in the shooting.

Jumped over the fence

According to Garma, the two supposedly entered the school not through the main gate but by jumping over a fence at the back of the premises.

“Meron pong gwardya dito sa harapan ng eskwelahan, ito po ay nagbabantay ng gate. Kaya lang, pumasok doon sa likuran kasi medyo mababa ‘yung bakod nila so nakatalon sila,” he said.

(There is a guard stationed in front of the school, guarding the gate. But the suspects supposedly entered from the back because the school’s fence is a bit low so they were able to jump over it.)

“Accordingly, nagbihis ‘yung dalawa, nagpalit ng damit bago sila nagsimulang mamaril,” he added.

(Accordingly, the suspects changed clothes before they started shooting.) — RSJ, GMA News