Philippine police thwart Roblox-linked school shooting plot by 7 teens
The case involving radicalised students in Laguna province highlights the need for cyber safety and parental vigilance, analysts say
Philippine police have foiled a school shooting and rescued seven students radicalised by “foreigners” online to stage an attack in Laguna province near Manila, amid growing calls for stronger parental safeguards against digital threats.
Officers rounded up the suspects – five boys and two girls, aged 12 to 17 – on February 2 after receiving a tip-off about an alleged plot they intended to carry out a fortnight later, the Philippine Star reported.
The teens, who were turned over to social workers, had come into contact with their “foreign” handlers on the gaming platform Roblox. The handlers subsequently invited the students to private chat rooms, exposing them to videos of shootings, beatings, accidents and beheadings, according to national broadcaster GMA’s Resibo programme.
The indoctrination prompted one of the boys to post a message reading “I will burn down my school” on social media.
Phones seized from the group revealed photos of tactical vests, gloves and an assault rifle that police said the teens were being urged to buy.
Police also found images related to Hitler, as well as T-shirts bearing phrases such as “No Lives Matter” and other slogans associated with the gunmen behind the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and a 2018 mass shooting at a school in Crimea.