TACLOBAN CITY – At least 60 individuals have been identified as alleged online groomers of minors linked to the deadly shooting at San Jose National High School in this city on June 22, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported on Wednesday.
NBI Eastern Visayas Regional Director Jeremy Lotoc said in an interview that the individuals include minors and foreigners who are members of various online networks.
“These findings are based on digital evidence gathered by our task force. Not all 60 subjects have direct contact with the shooters, but they definitely have influence through their network,” Lotoc told the Philippine News Agency.
Lotoc said the number could still increase, as investigators are also looking into around 200 other individuals suspected of influencing minors to carry out violent attacks.
“In our ongoing investigation, we are looking into organizational structure, network architecture, mode of recruitment, potential reach of influence and possible convergence with extremist groups,” he said.
Lotoc said the individuals were linked to nihilistic violent extremism, an online phenomenon by which foreign and local extremists allegedly groom and radicalize minors through social media and gaming platforms.
He declined to confirm whether the same individuals had also influenced the deadly campus shootings in Zamboanga City and Banga, South Cotabato.
Lotoc said the NBI has yet to set a timeline for completing the Tacloban school shooting investigation, as investigators continue to receive digital evidence almost daily.
The June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School, carried out by two minor students, left three learners dead and 20 others injured. (Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)
