WITH YESTERDAY'S TEXAS MASSACRE, THERE HAVE NOW BEEN MORE STUDENTS OR TEACHERS KILLED BY GUNS IN U.S. SCHOOLS THAN ACTIVE-DUTY MILITARY DEATHS IN 2018.
No headline can do this justice.
A TEXAS teenager dressed in a trench coat carried out a horrific school shooting Friday, killing 10 people and wounding 10 more while armed with a handgun, a shotgun and a chilling stash of explosives, authorities said.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, fatally gunned down nine students and a teacher in the massacre at Santa Fe High School about 30 miles south of Houston just as classes were starting for the day, officials said.
Pagourtzis used firearms owned by his father and initially planned to kill himself in the bloody rampage but ultimately lost his nerve and surrendered, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said the shotgun was of the ultra-deadly sawedoff variety and that investigators were trying to determine whether the shortened barrel was legal.
The suspect also had a cache of improvised explosive devices placed in the school and surrounding areas, including pipe bombs and a “pressure-cooker” device, Santa Fe Police Chief Jeff Powell said, warning members of the community to call 911 should they come across anything suspicious looking.
Pagourtzis reportedly yelled “Surprise!” before he opened fire.
A law enforcement official told CNN that an 18-year-old student was also detained for questioning in the aftermath of the shooting.
Among the dead were a foreign exchange student, two substitute teachers and several kids in art class, according to Houston station KHOU.
The Pakistan Embassy in Washington, D.C., confirmed that Sabika Sheikh lost her life, writing on Twitter, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika’s family and friends.”
Cynthia Tisdale, a substitute art teacher, who was passionate about her family, was also killed.
“It’s a terrible tragedy,” a family member told KHOU. “She was substitute teaching because she wanted to, she loved it.”
Three of Tisdale’s students, Chris Stone, Shana Fisher and Kimberly Jessica Vaughan were also killed.
The other substitute, Ann Perkins, “lived an impeccable life filled with traveling, love, family,” a relative wrote on Twitter.
Another teen, Angelique Ramirez, also perished in the gunfire, according to one of her aunts.
School resource officer John Barnes, who was in critical condition is one of 10 people who were injured in the barrage. Rome Shubert, 16, was grazed in the back of the head by a bullet. “I'm so greatful (sic) and blessed that god spared me life today. Today I was shot in the back of the head but i am completely okay and stable,” he wrote on Twitter. Dustin Severin, a 17-year-old student, told KPRC he saw Pagourtzis in a hallway before the gunfire erupted, sporting his usual attire. “He wears a trench coat every day, and it’s like 90 degrees out here,” the teen said, adding the suspected gunman was a loner who kept to himself.
Abbott said authorities uncovered entries from the shooter’s journal that appeared to indicate he was suicidal.
Pagourtzis appeared in court late Friday and bowed his head with his wrists shackled.
“Yes, sir,” he said when asked by the court if he was a citizen of the United States.
“No, sir,” he said when asked if he was out on bond for any other charge.
Pagourtzis did not enter a plea. He was denied bail and asked to be represented by a court-appointed attorney.
In an affidavit, he admitted to the shooting and told investigators “he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told.”
Student Angelica Martinez said it was a “normal-like class day” until the fire alarm started to blare.
“So we followed the fire drill procedures. And then we went outside. Like we were all standing there, but not even five minutes later, we all start hearing gunshots,” the 14-year-old told CNN.
That’s when everyone started to run, despite teachers urging them to remain calm, she said.
Three patients were admitted to the University of Texas Medical Branch, among them a police officer undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to his arm, according to KHOU.
A middle-age woman and female under 18 also received treat-
ment at the Galveston facility, each of them for a gunshot wound to the leg.
Seven more people were being treated at Clear Lake Regional Medical in Webster and another two at Mainland Medical Center in Texas City, according to CNN.
“Once again Texas has seen the face of evil. What happened here this morning in Santa Fe defies words. The agony, the hell the parents, this community is going through is unimaginable,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who also has an A+ NRA rating.
“In the public policy arena, we need to do everything humanly possible to stop this from happening again.”
President Trump called Friday a “very sad day, very, very sad,” during an event at the White House.
“This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years, too many decades now,” Trump said. “We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack to the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High.”
Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt has offered to pay for the funerals for the slain students, according to KHOU.
Friday’s shooting marks the third at a school in just a week’s time and the 22nd this year.
It was the deadliest since 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz unleashed his hail of bullets at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, killing 17 and injuring more than a dozen.