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Student kicked gunman and blocked classroom door in Philippines school shooting

Fourteen-year-old Bryan Pamonag was shot in the hand while protecting classmates at Banga National High School

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
A 14-year-old student in the southern Philippines has recounted how he kicked an armed classmate and blocked his classroom door during a lunchtime shooting that left students with gunshot wounds and ended with the gunman dying by suicide.

This story contains descriptions of a violent event that may be confronting.

Bryan Pamonag told 7.30 he was inside a classroom at Banga National High School in the town of Banga, avoiding the September humidity, when loud bangs interrupted the lunch break.

"I looked out the window, and I saw a student carrying a gun," he said. "I looked over at my classmates, and my best friend Chaldean had been shot."

Bryan said the gunman, a student carrying his father's 9mm pistol, was walking towards the classroom while firing.

"I saw him approaching the door while still firing, I crawled toward it to close it," he said. "I kicked him in the stomach and shut our classroom door ... blocking it because he was trying to force it open."

He said he was shot in the hand after the gunman moved to the window and fired at him.

"I saw one of my classmates run out of the room, he was shot three times," Bryan said.

Video posted to social media shows children fleeing the school gates as the shooting unfolded. The gunman died by suicide, an act Bryan said he witnessed.

Photographs from the school show the classroom has been left untouched since the shooting, with a single sneaker still on a desk. A Bible verse has since been painted on the wall outside the building.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The account from a 14-year-old eyewitness gives a student's-eye view of how the shooting unfolded and how classmates tried to protect each other.
  • The shooting took place in a classroom during a regular lunch break, raising questions about student safety and how a pupil gained access to a parent's firearm.
  • For readers in the Philippines and beyond, the case is a reminder of the impact of school violence on young people and the communities around them.

Background

School shootings are rare in the Philippines, where firearms ownership is regulated by law and unlicensed possession carries penalties. The shooting in Banga occurred at a public national high school during what would normally be an ordinary school day. Reporting so far has been limited to the survivor's account, with official details about the incident not yet published.

Key Perspectives

Students and survivors: Bryan's account describes a chaotic scene in which students dropped to the floor, crawled, and fled, while he took action to prevent the gunman entering his classroom. The school community: Staff and students at Banga National High School are left with an untouched classroom, a shoe on a desk, and the task of returning to a space where violence occurred. Critics and observers: The detail that the weapon was a parent's 9mm pistol may sharpen concerns about secure storage of firearms and how a minor accessed it.

What to Watch

  • Any official update on the number of students shot and their conditions, including Bryan's injured classmates.
  • Whether authorities explain how the student obtained his father's pistol.
  • How the school and community respond, including the memorial touches already visible at the site, such as the newly painted Bible verse.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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