Senate hearing: Tacloban school shooter shot best friend in the back

MANILA, Philippines — One of the students wounded in the June 22 shooting at a school in Tacloban City was shot in the back by his own best friend, a resource person told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Gerric Bituin was among those wounded when two minor students, aged 14 and 15, opened fire at at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, leaving three students dead.

READ: School shooting kills 3 students in Tacloban

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The  14-year-old suspect was only identified as alias Nash while the 15-year-old was identified as alias Rod.

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“In fact, he and Nash were friends — the suspects, were his classmates when they were in Grade 8. But Nash was his best friend at the time,”  Bituin’s older sister Janica told the Senate committee on women looking into the incident.

On the day of the shooting, Janica said her brother recalled seeing Nash attending their flag ceremony looking for another friend.

“Gerric said he became suspicious at the time because Nash seemed to be in a different mood than usual,”  she said.

And while they were in a class, Gerric recalled hearing a sound like an explosion. At first, he said, they were not concerned because the sound seemed far away, until they heard the sound of the gunfire  getting closer.

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Then they saw students running and shouting that someone had a gun.

As Gerric peeked through the window of their classroom, he saw the two suspects.

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“He said Nash was wearing a mask and was the only one he saw carrying a gun. After that, the two suspects reportedly went to the classroom across the hall. Their teacher then instructed Gerric and his classmates to move to another spot,”  Janica said.

“As Gerric was moving to another spot, they did not realize that Nash was already at the back of their classroom. Just as Gerric was about to stand up, he was shot. He was shot while his back was turned,” she added.

Janica said her brother described Nash as kind and friendly.

READ: Suspected ‘groomer’ of Tacloban school shooters tagged in Senate hearing

Another student, Kaye Lapidario, was also wounded by the suspects when she stood up to close the door of their classroom to protect her classmates, according to her father, Rolando.

“After the gunshots rang out in the classroom across the hall, the two suspects walked toward their classroom. Kaye then quickly shut the door, but she was shot immediately afterward,” the father told the committee.

Rolando said his daughter knew the suspects only by their faces.

“She was the only one who was shot because she was trying to protect her classmates. She closed the classroom door. They said that if she had not closed it, many more of them would have been shot,” he added.

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When Kaye was shot, she immediately sent a text message to her father, who was at the farm, to inform him, according to Rolando.