EDITORIAL - Another school shooting

There has been a third fatal school shooting incident. This time it happened at the Banga National High School in Banga, South Cotabato, around 2 P.M. yesterday, where a shooter opened fire at fellow students, hurting six of them and killing two.

The shooter was allegedly a Grade 9 student who shot himself dead after committing the act.

Details were still scant as of this writing, although South Cotabato Governor Reynald Tamayo has confirmed that the shooting had indeed happened, and the Philippine Red Cross South Cotabato chapter posted mobilizing to provide critical life-saving assistance to six individuals hurt in the incident.

Another report by the Philippine News Agency described the fatalities as one female and two male students, and that the gun used by the shooter was a Glock 9mm pistol owned by his father, allegedly a member of a local gun club.

Graphic footage of the incident has also made its way to social media, showing one of the bloodied victims being carried to the hospital via tricycle.

This is the third school shooting to occur this year. Last June 22, two students opened fire at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, killing at least three schoolmates and wounding about 20 others.

Last August 18, a student shot dead a schoolmate at the junior high school building of Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

This again raises several issues involving mental health and gun ownership and responsibility, among others.

What led the assailant to commit this crime? How was he able to get his hands on the gun? Were there no red flags to indicate that the suspect was going to do what he did? Is this an isolated incident or was this a copycat killing inspired by the Tacloban incident, or was this inspired by something else entirely?

These are questions we are bound to ask again, and again, and again if no sufficient and solutions are answers are found.

Sadly, this tragedy will have a more consequential impact beyond dead children; students will once again not feel safe in their schools, parents will once again feel dread when they hear that something happened in school, schools and local government units will again be scrambling for solutions to keep kids safe.