Content warning: School shooting and violence
Calls to refrain from sharing videos of the shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s (AdZU) Junior High School campus circulated online as Filipinos reminded one other of the lasting impact such footage can have.
READ: 2 students dead in in Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting including gunman, officials say
A Grade 9 student at AdZU opened fire on the campus in the early morning of Tuesday, August 18, leaving a Grade 9 student dead and nine others injured.
The minor suspect also took his own life afterward.
Local reports said he was armed with a pistol and a short-type combat rifle.
The shooter was also reportedly seen livestreaming the incident on Facebook using a body camera.
Circulating videos showed an individual carrying a long firearm and a pistol. The individual was seen firing at a person in front of a classroom before opening fire on others.
His father, the district commander of the Enforcement and Security Services (ESS) at the Bureau of Customs Zamboanga port, has been relieved of his post to ensure an impartial investigation.
Meanwhile, appeals to refrain from sharing the video, particularly the livestream of the shooting, were made online as Filipinos reminded one another of the potential impact such footage could have on social media users.
“Please be sensitive and ethical! Huwag mag-repost at mag-share ng video na nakaka-disturb! Nakakaloka na may pa-hashtag pa na viral post? Ano ‘to? Pinagkakakitaan pa rin?” psychologist Riyan Portuguez said.
“Nakakadagdag ng distress ito sa mga nakakakita. I-consider din natin ang mga naapektuhan,” she wrote in the comments section.
“Pls. DO NOT repost or share the video… I repeat: DO NOT REPOST or SHARE the school incident video in Zamboanga.
It can have a deep and lasting impact on young viewers, especially children who may see it online. Not everything that can be shared should be shared. Let’s Protect Children,” another user said.
“What’s even scarier is that the suspect was livestreaming the shooting. We’ve become so accustomed to pulling out our phones and recording everything, every inconvenience, every random moment, every piece of drama that sometimes we forget not everything should be recorded,” a different Threads user commented.
“And maybe this should be a reminder to all of us: kids are watching how we respond to the world. They’re learning from what we normalize, what we record, what we share, and what we choose to amplify,” the Threads user added.
“Not everything needs an audience. Not everything needs to be documented. What we do online can shape what the next generation learns to consider ‘normal,’” the Threads user continued.
The Philippine National Police is conducting an investigation to establish the motive behind the shooting, determine the ownership and source of the firearms used, and find out how they were brought onto the school campus.
Several cases of school violence, including stabbings and shootings, have been reported in the past three months, beginning in June this year.
Last June, two teenagers opened fire at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, killing three fellow students.
RELATED: Tacloban school shooting fuels calls for safer digital spaces for youth | ‘May pananagutan’: Pangilinan says minor suspects in Tacloban shooting will answer for crime
Other incidents involved students being stabbed on school campuses. — with reports from Philstar.com/Ian Laqui
