Shooter Claims Membership in "True Crime Community": Philippines School Shooting and Global Tech Platform Regulatory Failure

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a school shooting in the southern Philippine town of Banga in September lasted only about two minutes but claimed the lives of two fourteen-year-old students. The day of the incident was around noon, and student Brian Pamonag was working on assignments in the classroom with his classmates to escape the southern humidity. A sudden burst of gunfire shattered the classroom order—he looked out the window and saw a student walking toward them with a gun.

"I looked at my classmate; my best friend Zierldein had already been hit," Brian told the ABC's '7.30' program. "We dropped to the ground and started crawling."

The gunman, armed with his father's 9mm pistol, moved down the hallway toward the classrooms. In the chaos, Brian kicked the shooter in the abdomen and closed the classroom door, but he was then shot in the hand. One classmate was shot three times while rushing out of the classroom. Ultimately, the gunman shot himself, and Brian witnessed it.

The ABC report pointed out that the gunman left a manifesto claiming affiliation with the "True Crime Community" (TCC). This is an online subculture centered on nihilistic violent extremism (NVE), whose extreme fringe members idolize mass shooters, driven by a misanthropic worldview rather than political, religious, or social demands. Brigadier General Allan Bolongon Manibog of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Division told ABC: "The suspect published a manifesto claiming to be a member of the True Crime Community. Everything is under investigation. Experts from our Anti-Cybercrime Division and other law enforcement agencies are studying nihilistic violent extremism."

The Banga shooting was the third school shooting in the Philippines within four months. In June this year, two students opened fire at a school in Tacloban, killing three and injuring twenty; two months later, a high school student in Zamboanga City carried out an attack during a livestream, killing one student and injuring dozens, before shooting himself.

Citing analysis by the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, ABC reported that at least nine suspected attacks by teenagers linked to nihilistic violent extremism had occurred in Southeast Asia over the past year, including a shooting in Nonthaburi, Thailand, that killed seven, and the explosions at SMAN 72 school and a mosque in North Jakarta—the latter injuring ninety-nine. Philippine police said the Banga shooter's manifesto referenced the Jakarta explosions.

Regarding the radicalization pathway, Angel Redoble, a member of the Philippine cybersecurity professionals association, outlined to ABC a global platform channel primarily based in the United States: "These shootings are closely related to, and even directly connected with, what is happening on online gaming platforms, content platforms, chat platforms, and social media," he said. "On these platforms, a group we call 'groomers' is manipulating, influencing, and radicalizing vulnerable Filipino minors to carry out real-world violence such as shootings."

ABC's investigation revealed that teenagers are initially approached on platforms such as Discord and Roblox, and then redirected to encrypted communication applications. Redoble added that after each shooting, True Crime Community accounts on content platforms like TikTok "strongly support and glorify" violent acts. Researchers also noted that operators may be either adults or other minors.

On the institutional response, ABC reported that in October this year, the Philippine Interior Secretary revealed that since the Banga shooting, authorities had foiled more than fifty attacks targeting schools in South Cotabato province and arrested fifty-three people suspected of cyber threats and grooming. In August this year, the Philippine government reached an agreement with gaming platform Roblox to strengthen online child safety commitments, including enhanced age verification, faster cooperation with law enforcement, and improved harmful content detection; Roblox said it had deployed additional protective measures to identify potential signs of child endangerment.

The platforms emphasized their safety mechanisms in statements. A Discord spokesperson told ABC: "We maintain robust systems to prevent violent extremism, sexual exploitation, and grooming from spreading on our platform, and work with other technology companies and safety organizations to enhance online safety across the internet."

However, a hearing held by the Philippine Senate in July this year regarding the Tacloban shooting raised another threat—a decentralized extremism and child sexual extortion network known as "764." ABC pointed out that there is still disagreement among researchers about the degree of overlap between 764 and TCC, but both are seen as significant and expanding global threats that use online pathways to lure or radicalize minors. As to whether there is a substantive gap between the statements of platforms such as Discord and Roblox and the radicalization pathways identified by police, there is currently a lack of independent third-party verification.

The ABC report also presented the progress of the Philippine National Police on the Banga incident: police stated that digital forensics on the suspect's and classmates' phones are still underway. Police said that the number of violent threats against the community has risen since the incident, but "the overwhelming majority of threats came from minors who lack the ability or access to obtain firearms."

On the source of the firearm, ABC's investigation found that the Banga gunman's father works for the Philippine Department of Education and is currently under investigation for firearm safety violations. Police said the gunman took the pistol from a safe kept by his father. The Philippines has one of the highest gun ownership rates in Asia, and this string of shootings has sparked nationwide discussion about firearm safety.

At a high school in Koronadal, the administrative center of South Cotabato province near Banga, metal detectors and security personnel have been deployed at the school gate to scan students. Vice principal Sonny Pama told ABC: "We are very worried that what happened in Banga could be repeated here." He added that the school encourages parents to check the apps and conversation partners on their children's devices, because students often lack communication with their parents and continue to use phones late into the night.

The Philippine police are also pushing similar appeals. Brigadier General Manibog reminded parents to pay attention to their children's online activities, including behavior on social media: "The safety and security of these children begins at home."

In the face of repeated mass violence carried out by minors, Philippine authorities are considering implementing a social media ban targeting teenagers. South Cotabato province Vice Governor Arthur Pingoy told ABC: "After Tacloban and Zamboanga, the question is: have any measures been taken to deal with similar incidents and problems?" "Looking at the results, we still have a lot of work to do to address these kinds of incidents."

Zierldein's mother, Catherine Lubaton, recalled the daily moments between mother and daughter at her daughter's funeral: "Sometimes she would sleep beside me. When we watched television, she would rest her head on my lap... she was very affectionate," she said. "She wanted to become a teacher. She was like a big sister to her cousins."