Tacloban shooting: Philippines gaming app GoreBox played by teenage suspect

The Philippines has temporarily banned Gorebox, a gaming app, after an initial investigation found that a teenager suspected in a rare school shooting was playing the game.

Three students were killed and 20 others wounded when two suspects – aged 15 and 14 – opened fire in a classroom in Tacloban, southeast of Manila.

According to police, the 14-year-old was a player of GoreBox, a game where players can destroy anything they want and engage in “brutal combat with multiple weapons and explosives,” according to the Google Play listing.

“We cannot ignore the online influences that may have contributed to this tragedy,” the country’s cyber security agency said.

“Temporarily suspending the game will allow authorities to conduct a thorough assessment of whether the platform played any role in the actions of the suspects,” said Aboy Paraso, undersecretary of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center.

BBC News spoke to Germany’s F2Games, maker of the Gorebox, for comment. Scientific studies have not found a direct link between video games and violent behavior.

Gorebox is a first-person shooter video game that can be played as a solo or online multiplayer. The International Age Rating Consortium rated it R18 due to its extremely powerful, clear and limitless gameplay.

Mass shootings are rare in the Philippines, although gun-related crimes are rare and the most sensational cases are a staple of the nightly newscasts.

What is unusual this time is that the suspects are minors.

Akbayan Party-list Congressman Chel Diokno called for severe penalties for those who allow minors to carry firearms.

The worst mass shooting in recent Philippine history took place in 2011. In November 2009, the mayor of a town in the southern province of Maguindanao shot dead 58 people traveling with a political rival’s convoy.