(UPDATE) TACLOBAN CITY — Police filed murder and multiple counts of serious physical injury charges against a 15-year-old boy involved in the shooting at a school here on Monday, which Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said was triggered by "bullying."
The suspect, whose identity has been withheld because he is a minor. and witnesses appeared for inquest proceedings at the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, while the 14-year-old, also considered a child in conflict with the law (CICL), along with the 15-year-old, was placed under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and will be confined at the Regional Rehabilitation for Youth in Tanauan, Leyte.
Authorities said while no charges were filed against the younger suspect because he was exempt from criminal liability due to his age, the older boy faced three counts of murder, three counts of frustrated murder, and multiple counts of serious physical injuries.
The two minors from San Jose National High School here tested positive for gunpowder nitrates.
'Bullying gone wrong'
Remulla, in Manila, said on Wednesday that a preliminary investigation into the brutal school shooting in Tacloban, Leyte leaned toward a case of “bullying gone wrong,” aggravated by the minor suspects’ exposure to a violent online game.
“Ang lumalabas sa initial feedback ay bullying gone wrong. Binubully daw yung dalawang estudyanteng yon at nainfluence sila sa video games (Based on initial feedback, this is a case of bullying gone wrong. The two suspects apparently are students that were influenced by video games),” Remulla told reporters in an interview.
Remulla said in Filipino that they were looking at "the culpability of the aunt and parents from who the firerms were taken." Remulla said one of the two guns used was not registered and bore a fake serial number.
Remulla said, however, that the fact that the kids had access to the guns, makes their owners cuplable.
On Monday morning, two Grade 9 students, went on a shooting spree, killing three and injuring 20. Initial investigation points to bullying as the reason behind the rampage.
Bullied since Grade 7, the two appear to have planned the shooting for over a month as seen in alleged screenshots of their chats that went viral on social media.
The two talked about securing firearms and even looked into the juvenile justice law, thinking they would be exempt from criminal liability for being minors.
