PNP: Batangas school shooting threat allegedly from 'bullied' student

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday that a purported threat of an attack against a public school in Batangas province likely came from an individual who identified themselves as a "bullied" student. The threat was received through the school’s social media page late Sunday night, prompting the management to suspend classes on Monday, PNP public information chief Col. Allen Rae Co said in a press briefing in Camp Crame. "I will shoot or stab you all in Grades 7, 8, 9, 10. I’m a Grade 10 student. You don’t know me, but you bully me," the threat said, as paraphrased by Co. "It was read by one of the advisers of the school and tagged as a threatening message… So, they suspended classes. Our police officers went to the school immediately to coordinate with them to check the veracity of this report," he explained. He noted that the message was now being investigated by the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group. Co noted that the initial police report said the threat came from an unidentified individual, but investigators were not discounting the possibility that the account was using a fictitious name. "At first glance, we’d think this was a copycat. There are some theories that there may have just been an exam. Before, there used to be bomb threats and others just so the exam wouldn’t push through because they didn’t study. But, it’s not funny anymore," Co said. "We’d want this to just be intimidation and not be a serious threat. But, we cannot discount the possibility that this is an actual threat. So, we’re treating all cases like this as serious and acting accordingly," he added. Co noted that it would be up to the Department of Education to determine how long the school would suspend its classes in light of the alleged threat.