Ten dead in Texas school shooting; student armed with shotgun arrested
SANTA FE, United States: Ten people, mostly students, were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire in a Texas high school Friday, the latest deadly school shooting to hit the United States.
The gunman, arrested on murder charges, was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17year-old junior at Santa Fe High School. He is being held on capital murder charges, meaning he could face the death penalty.
Governor Greg Abbott said 10 people died and another 10 were wounded in “one of the most heinous attacks that we’ve ever seen in the history of Texas schools.” Abbott said the gunman apparently carried out the attack with a shotgun and a .38 revolver that were legally owned by his father.
At dusk, hundreds of people turned out for a candlelight vigil as the community sought to cope with the tragedy. People prayed and sang ‘Amazing Grace’, tears streaming down some faces.
Abbott said searches were being conducted at two residences and ‘explosive devices’ had been found, including a Molotov cocktail.
He said journal entries by the gunman suggested he wanted to commit suicide but ‘he gave himself up.’
Abbott said the suspect had no criminal history, although he did post a picture on his Facebook page of a T-shirt with the words ‘Born to Kill’ on it.
Law enforcement authorities were questioning two ‘people of interest,’ the governor said. One may have ‘certain information,’ he said, and the other had some ‘suspicious reactions.’
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said most victims were students.
Area hospitals said two victims were in critical condition. One of the wounded was a police officer, John Barnes, who engaged the gunman and was shot in the elbow, officials said.
The shooting was the latest in what has become an all-toofamiliar situation in US schools, where gun violence has become a part of everyday life, part of a broader toll taken by firearms which are responsible for more than 30,000 gun-related deaths annually.
“My friend got shot in the art hall,” weeping student Dakota Shrader told reporters.
“I shouldn’t be going through this,” Shrader said as her mother comforted her.
“It’s my school. This is my daily life. I feel scared to even go back.”
The shooting erupted before 8am, as the first classes of the day were starting.
Shrader said fire alarms went off “and everybody just started running outside.