Shooter kills 10 people at Texas high school; suspect in custody
May 18, 2018, 6:50 AM | Updated: May 20, 2018, 7:53 pm
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said 10 people, mostly students, were killed and 14 were wounded by a teen shooter at a Houston-area high school Friday morning.
A suspect identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a student at Santa Fe High School, was taken into custody and charged with capital murder.
He had two weapons, a shotgun and .38 revolver, that were owned by his father, Abbott said.
Galveston County Sheriff’s Office released a photo of Pagourtzis.
“One or two” other people of interest were being interviewed about the shooting, Abbott said.
No motive for the attack was given, but Abbott said there was evidence on the suspect’s computer and cellphone that “not only did he want to commit the shooting but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting.”
After giving up, however, Pagourtzis told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said a school district police officer was treated for an undisclosed injury at an area hospital.
The emergency room medical director at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center said the facility treated eight students for gunshot wounds. Dr. Safi Madain said six of them have been released, one remained in critical condition and the other was in fair condition.
Other victims were treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the shooter told investigators that when he opened fire at Santa Fe High School on Friday morning, “he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told.”
Among the deceased were a foreign exchange student from Pakistan and a substitute teacher.
Multiple agencies responded, including local law enforcement departments, the FBI, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Santa Fe is located around 35 miles southeast of Houston in Galveston County.
President Donald Trump addressed the incident while speaking at a prison reform summit at the White House.
“We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack — to the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High,” he said. “We’re with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever.”
“My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others.”
Trump later ordered that U.S. flags fly at half-staff until Tuesday.
Officials have canceled classes at schools in the Santa Fe Independent School District through at least Tuesday.
In a statement posted on the district website, officials indicated that no plan has been made for resuming classes.
It was the nation’s deadliest school shooting since the February attack in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people.
Galveston County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Maj. Douglas Hudson said units responded to reports of shots fired before 8 a.m. Texas time.
One student told Houston television station KTRK in a telephone interview that a gunman came into her first-period art class and started shooting.
The student said she saw one girl with blood on her leg as the class evacuated the room.
Another student in a classroom said they barricaded the door with desks after his teacher returned from pulling the fire alarm.
“We couldn’t hear anything over the gunshots,” the young man said.
The 18-year-old credited the teacher and numerous drills with saving their lives.
Michael Farina, 17, said he was on the other side of campus when the shooting began and thought it was a fire drill. He was holding a door open for special education students in wheelchairs when a principal came bounding down the hall and telling everyone to run.
Another teacher yelled out, “It is real!”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
