School Shooting
A shooting at a Philippine high school kills at least one person and injures several others, officials say.
Gunfire tore through a high school in the southern Philippines Friday afternoon, killing at least one person and injuring several others, officials said.
The shooting hit Banga National High School in South Cotabato province, on the island of Mindanao, according to BBC News. South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo told reporters one person died and four were hospitalized. He gave no details on the shooter's identity. Nor did he say whether the shooter was among the dead or injured.
Local media cited other Philippine authorities and reported much higher casualty figures, BBC News said. The identities of the shooter and the victims had not been confirmed.
Disaster management authorities suspended classes "in all levels in the entire municipality of Banga," according to BBC News. The Philippine Red Cross sent medical teams to the scene. Police stayed on site, investigating.
The Philippines has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region. School shootings there remain rare, BBC News reported. Friday marked at least the third school shooting in the country this year. In June, three students died at a high school in the central Philippines, in a shooting investigators tied to a grudge over bullying, BBC News said.
In August, a Grade 9 student live-streamed himself killing a classmate at a school linked to Ateneo de Zamboanga University, then turned the gun on himself, according to CNA. Two other students were injured in that attack, Zamboanga Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said, according to CNA. The shooter used a .40-caliber pistol issued to his father, a Bureau of Customs official who has since been relieved of his post, a senior customs official told CNA. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered an investigation into school safety measures after that attack.
Friday, the Philippine Department of Education said it was "deeply concerned by the reported shooting incident" in Banga and was coordinating with authorities to verify what happened.
"Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of our learners, teachers and school personnel," the department said in a statement reported by BBC News.
"We urge everyone to remain calm and refrain from sharing unverified information as authorities continue their investigation."