Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Article (news)

Tacloban City shooting

Francis Orcio

ABS-CBN News

<p>TACLOBAN CITY — Police are investigating whether one of the two children involved in the shooting at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City may have been influenced by school shootings abroad.</p><p>This, after investigators noted one of the suspects was wearing a band shirt similar to that worn by one of the teens in the Columbine High school shooting in 1999. </p><p>In an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN News, Police Lt. Col. Analiza Armeza, chief of Police Regional Office-8 Public Information Office, stressed that investigators have not reached any conclusion on what motivated the June 22 attack that claimed the lives of three students and left 20 others injured.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/6/24/police-looking-at-family-issues-involving-14-year-old-suspect-in-tacloban-school-shooting-1705">Police looking at family issues involving 14-year-old suspect in Tacloban school shooting<br/></a></div><p>&quot;Nakita namin iyon and iyon nga, kino-consider din namin iyon sa investigation if those previous shooting incidents involving those persons na naka-shirt na parehas ng isang CICL would have influenced him [into] committing that. Pero that&#x27;s for confirmation,&quot; Armeza explained.</p><p>Armeza emphasized that the observation alone should not be interpreted as evidence that the suspect deliberately imitated previous school shooters.</p><p>She said it is one of several investigative leads that authorities are carefully examining.</p><p>Apart from online gaming, police are also determining whether one of the minor&#x27;s participation in an online community could have influenced his actions.</p><p>Armeza said investigators have already conducted interviews touching on that possibility but are still gathering information before making any findings public.</p><p>“I have to get that information pa from the investigator if there is influence of online gaming and that isang group online na posibleng nasalihan ng CICL na ito na naka-influence sa kanya,” she disclosed.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>SCREENSHOTS OF ALLEGED CONVERSATION YET TO BE VERIFIED</strong></div><p>Police are also looking into alleged screenshots of the two teens&#x27; online conversations that spread after the shooting.</p><p>Police said the conversations could provide important evidence if authenticated.</p><p>They also warned that authorities cannot yet confirm whether the screenshots are genuine or if the accounts in the them actually belong to the two minors.</p><p>The suspects&#x27; mobile phones have been turned over to the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit for digital forensic examination.</p><p>&quot;Ngayon kasi, we cannot conclusively say na kanila iyon na conversation kasi it has to undergo forensic examination,&quot; Armeza explained.</p><p>Police are likewise investigating who first posted the alleged screenshots online and how the alleged conversations may have been accessed.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zQGyp6Swp10?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Police are investigating whether one of the two children involved in the shooting at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City may have been influenced by school shootings abroad.</p>

Police are investigating whether one of the two children involved in the shooting at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City may have been influenced by school shootings abroad.

Possible influence of shootings abroad among leads in Tacloban incident

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Possible influence of shootings abroad among leads in Tacloban incident

Francis Orcio,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 24, 2026 08:20 PM PHT

Read More:

San Jose National High School

Tacloban City

School shooting

Tacloban shooting

Columbine High School shooting

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