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Philippines, Thailand, US: Deadly school shootings around the world in 2026
Tuesday's shooting incident in the Philippines is the latest in a string of such incidents that have put the spotlight on school safety and access to firearms
- PUBLISHED: Tue 18 Aug 2026, 3:02 PM
Schools — usually a safe haven for young learners — have more than once turned into a scene of panic in recent times when gunfire broke out on campus. More often than not, it has been a student who has walked into his school, gun in hand, shooting indiscriminately, leaving schoolmates, parents and teachers dealing with deaths, injuries and trauma.
August 18's shooting at a school in the Philippines is the latest in a string of such incidents that have put the spotlight on student safety and access to firearms. Here's a look at some of the major school shooting incidents from around the world in recent months.
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Philippines, August 18
The most recent incident is that of Tuesday, August 18, when two students were killed in a shooting at a high school in the southern Philippines. A 9th grader walked into a school attached to the privately-run Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the city of Zamboanga, with a pistol and a rifle and live-streamed the incident on his social media account.
He fatally shot a 10th grader and then took his own life, in the second such incident in the country in less than two months.
"In the video, we see that he first shot at the teacher who was sitting at a table. It seems he missed, then moved to another room... he shot another student there, the one who fell," Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said.
Georgia, US, August 12
A shooting at a Georgia high school on August 12 left one student wounded. A teenage suspect who fled was later taken into custody, police said, AP reported.
The shooting at Warner Robins High School, about 102 miles (164 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta, involving two ninth-graders and occurred just one week into the new school year.
Authorities said there was a group of students inside the bathroom when a verbal altercation took place between two of the students, which escalated into a physical fight and at some point one of the students took out a gun, shooting another student.
The injured student was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Thailand, August 7
A shooting incident took place at a school in Thailand, north of Bangkok, on Friday, August 7, when a student opened fire, killing 5 people before taking his own life. Twenty-three people were wounded, Thai police said.
The incident took place around 10am at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province in the second school shooting in Thailand this year.
The teenager had shot and killed his grandparents at their home before the incident at school, Thai police said. They also said he fired 26 rounds of ammunition at the school, and another 34 rounds of ammunition were found at the scene.
The Thai teen had an air gun confiscated by a teacher last year and had watched violent content online, police said in days after the incident. Police said the boy had used social media to learn how to use a firearm.
Philippines, June 22
Two students opened fire inside a school in the central Philippines, killing three teens and injuring seven others, police said. The two alleged shooters, aged 15 and 14, were in custody after firing "randomly" at San Jose National High School, in Leyte province's Tacloban City.
A Glock 9mm pistol used in the shooting was registered to a policewoman in the region, who was later taken into custody. Over 40 empty shells were found at the scene, police added.
School shootings are a rarity in Philippines but the recent incidents have rattled citizens, with the various groups and some Filipino lawmakers calling for a comprehensive investigation into the fatal shooting but also highlighting the urgent need to ensure safer schools and protection of students.
Legal gun ownership is tightly regulated in the Southeast Asian country, but a large black market exists for firearms.
Turkey, April 14 and 15
Two consecutive mass shooting incidents in schools rattled Turkey in April this year, where such incidents are rare.
On April 14, an ex-student opened fire at his former high school in Turkey, wounding 16 people including students before killing himself, officials said. "He took his own life when cornered by police," the governor said.
Special security forces were deployed to the school in southeastern Turkey's Sanliurfa province, where students were evacuated, the local governor, Hasan Sildak, told reporters.
The assailant, a 19-year-old former student, used a shotgun in the attack in the Siverek district, said Sanliurfa province's governor, Hasan Sildak.
A day after, a 14-year-old student shot at least nine people dead including eight of his fellow pupils and wounded 13 others at a middle school in southeastern Turkey.
Eight students and one teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Turkey's Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told reporters, adding that six of the wounded were in critical condition.
California, US, June 23
A deadly shooting incident took place in the parking lot at Schafer Stadium of Fairfield High School in Fairfield, California, following a graduation ceremony for Sem Yeto Continuation High School.
The gunfire resulted in the death of an 18-year-old graduate, Jamario Baker, and left three others wounded, including an 11-year-old child, a 20-year-old, and a 25-year-old.
The shooting is one of at least 168 mass shootings in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are shot.
