53 people detained in Philippines over online threats and grooming — ABC News Australia

Following a shooting at Banga National High School in the Philippines, 53 people were detained who are allegedly linked to online threats and grooming. As ABC News Australia reports, Philippine media wrote in October that Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla said that more than 50 planned school shootings in the province of South Cotabato had been prevented.

The shooting in Banga occurred in September during the lunch break. According to the outlet, a student came to school with his father's 9mm pistol. The attack lasted about two minutes: two students were killed and another eight were injured. The attacker died by suicide.

Checking possible links

The Philippine National Police is checking a possible link between the Banga attack and the online subculture True Crime Community, or TCC. Brigadier General Alan Bolongon Manibog told ABC that the suspect published a manifesto in which he described himself as a member of this community. Law enforcement officers are also conducting a digital forensic examination of the attacker's and his classmates' phones.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Analysts are considering a series of attacks at schools in Southeast Asia as possible manifestations of nihilistic violent extremism. Law enforcement uses this term for violence motivated by a misanthropic worldview or hatred of society, rather than political, religious, or social goals.

Third shooting in four months

The Banga attack was the third shooting at Philippine schools in four months. In June, two students opened fire at a school in the city of Tacloban: three people were killed and another 20 were injured. Two months later, an attacker at a school in the city of Zamboanga livestreamed the attack, killed a student, injured dozens of people, and later shot himself.

Following these incidents, a nationwide audit of school security is being conducted in the country, while lawmakers are considering tightening rules on online abuse, grooming, and radicalization. Checks have been strengthened at a school in the city of Koronadal in South Cotabato province: guards scan students and their belongings with metal detectors and inspect bags at the entrance.