Philippines school shooting leaves at least two dead

A shooting incident at a school in the Philippines has left at least three people dead, including the 16-year-old suspected gunman, and injured several others.

The shooting was reported on Friday in Banga town in ‌South Cotabato, in the southern Philippines. It is the country’s third deadly school shooting incident since June.

A disaster agency worker reported that two of the people killed were students, adding that several others were being treated in hospital. Four of the eight ⁠injured were in ⁠critical condition and all the victims were ⁠students aged ⁠14 to ⁠17.

The suspected gunman, who was 16 years old, reportedly shot himself following the attack, South Cotabo provincial governor Reynaldo Tamoyo said. The town mayor later reported that the attacker had died, according to the Reuters news agency.

However, it was not immediately clear how many shooters were involved in total.

A teacher was heard in a video circulating across social media that there were two shooters. A student could be heard saying “they” were outsiders to the school.

“For now, we are trying to let our fellow citizens know that the situation is stable and the case is contained,” Tamayo said. “We never thought this would happen.”

This incident comes weeks after nationwide shooter drills were conducted to strengthen school security, following two earlier school shootings that took place in the country in recent months.