Texas Shooting: Student Kills 10, injured 10 - HEYKAYJONES BLOG

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Friday 18 May 2018

Texas Shooting: Student Kills 10, injured 10



At least 10 people are dead after a 17-year-old student allegedly opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas this morning, sending students fleeing for their lives, the governor said.

Ten others were wounded, including a police officer who is in critical condition, officials said.

Gov. Greg Abbott called the shooting "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools."

Santa Fe High School freshman Caitlyn Girouard, center, hugs her friend outside the Alamo Gym where students and parents wait to reunite following a shooting at Santa Fe High School, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas.more +

The suspect, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, is in custody and has been charged with capital murder, officials said. The suspect allegedly wrote in journals that he wanted to carry out the shooting and then commit suicide, but he gave himself up to authorities.

There were no warning signs and the suspect doesn't have a criminal history, officials said.

Galveston County Sheriff’s Office

Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, is the suspect in a deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas , May 18, 2018.more +

A second individual, a person of interest, has been detained, officials said.

Two weapons were used in the massacre -- a shotgun and a .38 revolver -- both of which appear to be legally owned by the suspect's father, the governor said.

Explosive devices were also found at the school, and devices including a Molotov cocktail were found in a car and a home, authorities said.


Students gather by the Barnett Intermediate School where parents are gathering to pick up their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas.more +

Freshman Peter Matuza was in art class this morning when he heard two explosions and ducked under a table, he said.

The gunman shot Peter’s friend with a shotgun before turning and opening fire with a revolver, Peter told ABC News.

Students were running and screaming and one student flipped a table over for cover, Peter said.

Peter said he made eye contact with the suspect, noting, "he had a face of rage."

"He could have killed me right there," he said.

The gunman then “walked through a closet that went straight to the adjacent art room and began opening fire in there, as well,” Peter said.

A woman prays in the grass outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their kids following a shooting at Santa Fe High School, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas.more +

Law enforcement officers are responding to Santa Fe High School following a shooting incident in Santa Fe, Texas.more +

"I heard the [fire] alarms and everybody ran out,” tenth-grader Dakota Shrader told ABC station KTRK in Houston. “At first all we heard was ‘run, run,’ and next thing you know we hear, ‘boom, boom, boom.’”

“Everybody started running,” she said, “and I tried to make it to the safest place that I could as fast as I can. I called my mom right away.”

“She couldn’t breathe, she was having an asthma attack,” her mom added. “I didn’t even know where to find her.”

Among the injured is school district police officer John Barnes, who is in critical condition. Barnes, a retired Houston police officer, was shot in the arm and suffered major bleeding, hospital officials said.

Two school district officers on campus were able to confront the shooter early on, authorities said.

As students lined up outside the building, ambulances, helicopters and federal agents swarmed the school in Santa Fe, between Galveston and Houston.


This is the sixth fatal shooting at a school since the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting that killed 17 students and staff in February. The Parkland massacre prompted a national debate about gun reform and school safety.

Just last month students at Santa Fe High School participated in a nationwide school walkout against school gun violence. The walkout was held on April 20 -- the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that killed 13.

A Santa Fe student said they read poems by a Parkland survivor, held 17 minutes of silence in honor of the 17 people killed in Parkland, and discussed ways they could raise gun violence awareness and make their voices heard.

mukethemusical/Twitter

Students at Santa Fe High School participated in a nationwide school walkout against school gun violence, April 20, 2018.more +

School shootings have "been going on too long in our country," President Trump said today from the White House.

"Too many years, too many decades now, we grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack," he said.

Abbott said it's time to "make sure this tragedy is never repeated ever again."

Police officers in tactical gear move through the scene at Santa Fe High School after a shooting on May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas.

Courtesy, ABC News

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