Tacloban school shooting: Minor allegedly broke into aunt’s house to get gun

MANILA, Philippines – Alias Nash, one of the two minors tagged in the fatal school shooting in Tacloban City allegedly broke into the house of his aunt, a non-commissioned police officer, to get the gun that he used in the incident.

This was the explanation of Police Staff Sergeant Arla Ray Paciencia during the Wednesday, July 1, Senate probe into the shooting incident at the San Jose National High School that killed three students dead and injured 20 others. 

Paciencia has been relieved from duty pending the investigation. The Philippine National Police (PNP) said she will face summary dismissal proceedings.

“Nash unlawfully entered my own house. It’s not a room; it’s my own house. He forcibly damaged my locker. It was locked and my house was locked as well,” she told the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality.

Paciencia said she kept her 9mm Glock pistol in a gun box inside a plastic locker. She said she was the only one who possessed the house key. 

However, the standard for keeping a firearm is in a safety vault, not a plastic locker.

“It was in good faith, Ma’am, that I believed it was safe at the time since I’m the only one staying in my own house,” she told Senator Risa Hontiveros, who led the committee hearing.

When asked how her nephew could have known the gun’s location, Paciencia said: “I have only one locker in my room. Siguro naghanap siya kung saan ko puwede matago. ‘Yon lang ang area na may lock po.”
(Maybe he was looking for a place where I could hide the gun. That was the only area with a lock.)

Nash and another minor, 15-year-old alias Rod, were arrested after the shooting. They are in the custody of the Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Youth in Tanauan, Leyte.

While exempted from criminal liability as a 14-year-old minor, Nash will undergo an intervention program.

Cop explains relationship with nephew

Paciencia clarified that she brought her nephew to a firing range only once. The PNP previously said the minor was supposedly taught responsible gun ownership, according to initial investigation.

“He wanted to be a police officer like me. He looked up [to me],” she told senators.

“‘Yong napapansin ko po kay Nash is masyadong mahaba ang oras niya sa cellphone. He is [an] introvert. Most of the time di siya nakikipag-usap. Gusto niya lang mapag-isa,” she said of her nephew.

(I noticed that Nash uses his phone for a long time. He is an introvert. Most of the time he would not talk to others. He wanted to be left alone.)

Initial police investigation showed that the two minors appeared to have planned the attack. Police said that they were “heavily influenced” by violent online content. 

Investigators also found that the 14-year-old played the online video game Gorebox prior to the incident. Authorities are looking into leads of possible influence of online extremism.

Paciencia said that her nephew was a different kid before hitting puberty. During the Senate hearing, it was found that Nash was a happy person who cracks jokes.

That detail came from Jeric Bituin, a friend of Nash, who was also one of students hurt in the shooting. It was Jeric’s sister, Janica, who shared this to the Senate committee.

Paciencia said she does not stand as a parent to the minor but only an aunt who would also supervise him and provide financial support. 

She said the minor still lived with his parents and not with her. 

“In cases po na walang wala ang parents niya because they’re members of 4PS, wala silang trabaho. And naawa naman ako sa bata lalo na kapag humihingi na po ng pambili ng ulam, gatas, kahit sa education nila,” Paciencia said.

(I would provide support in cases where his parents had nothing because they’re members of 4Ps and do not have jobs. I pity the child when he asks for money to buy food, milk, and even for their education.)

Senator Raffy Tulfo said responsible gun owners must not expose children to guns.

“Natuto siyang magpaputok ng baril dahil sinama ‘nyo siya sa firing range. Kung hindi mo siya sinama at di na siya na-expose sa ganoong klaseng environment, then things would have been different,” Tulfo said.

(He learned how to fire a gun when you brought him into a firing range. If you did not bring him there and expose him to that kind of environment, then things would have been different.) – Rappler.com