Texas shooting: Suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis charged as 10 are killed and explosive devices found at high school - as it happened
Officials say the gunman used his father's firearms and later talked about wanting to save students he liked so they could 'tell his story'
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Your support makes all the difference.Ten people were killed after a gunman believed to be a student opened fire at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in the latest spasm of gun violence in a country still shaken by the massacre at a Florida high school in February.
Authorities quickly named 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis as their suspect. Later in the day he was charged with capital murder - for which he did not enter a plea - and was denied bond. He was being held in solitary confinement.
Scenes of grief and horror streamed out of the small community less than an hour's drive from Houston. Stunned and weeping teenagers tried to piece together the mayhem they had experienced. Schools were set to be closed for the start of the following week, with the FBI saying Santa Fe High School and the surrounding area would remain a closed crime scene “for some time”.
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Authorities said the assailant appeared to have obtained his weapons - a shotgun and a revolver - from his father, who possessed them legally. Explosive devices were found both at the school and off campus, Mr Gonzalez said.
Court documents said the suspect admitted to authorities having carried out the shooting “with the intent of killing people” and said he spared the lives of students he liked so that “he could have his story told“.
Writings in the suspect's journals that indicated he wanted to take his own life, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.
“We also know information already that the shooter has information contained in journals on his computer and his cell phone that he said that not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting,” he said.
“As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didn't have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier,” Abbott added.
Some fellow students described him as quiet. He also played on the school's American football team.
President Donald Trump called the shooting heartbreaking and said that federal and local authorities were coordinating in the wake of the gun attack.
“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,” Mr Trump said at the White House.
As the day unfolded, Democratic elected officials said the latest shooting again proved the need for tougher gun laws. They were joined by teenage survivors of the Florida shooting who have turned into vocal fun control advocates.
While Mr Abbott said he intended to convene a series of public meetings to find “solutions” that would prevent more shootings, he did not elaborate on details.
Mr Abbott says that there were few "red flags" that would have alerted authorities to the possibility of a shooting.
The governor said that there was a picture on the suspect's Facebook page - a T-shirt that aid "born to kill".
A sheriff says the 17-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of at least 10 people at his Houston-area high school is being held on a capital murder charge.
Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset says in a statement that the student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, is being held without bond in the Galveston County jail.
One of the victims in the shooting has spoken to local media about his injuries.
Rome Shubert tells the Houston Chronicle that he was hit in the back of his head with what he says was a bullet, but that it "missed everything vital."
Robert posted on Twitter that he was "completely OK and stable."
President Donald Trump has ordered flags be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of today's deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas.
“Our Nation grieves with those affected by the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas. May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded, and may God be with the victims and with the victims' families," a proclamation.
"As a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the terrible act of violence perpetrated on May 18, 2018, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, May 22, 2018.
"I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”
One student from the school a 17-year-old junior - who did not want to be named - told our reporter Clark Mindock that she was across the school when the shooting began. A fire alarm began ringing, but she and her friends in her precalculus class thought it was just a drill — so they began leisurely walking down the hall and joking.
Then, a teacher described as “normally level-headed” began “screaming” at students to get out.
“I was terrified, we had no idea what was going on. My younger brother was AP [Advanced Placement] testing, so he didn’t have his phone. I was a hysterical mess searching for him,” the student, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
The student said that she knew the suspected shooter — “in a community as small as ours, there’s no one you don’t know” — but said she was not surprised a shooting took place.
“I wasn’t surprised eiher, after our fake-out in February,” she said, referring to a false alarm. “It felt like it was just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode since then. I mean, it’s hard to believe that people are comparing us to Parkland, no one is ever really prepared for something like this.”
School police officer John Barnes was shot in the arm when he confronted the gunman.
A bullet damaged the bone and a major blood vessel around Mr Barnes' elbow, which required surgery to repair, said David Marshall, chief nursing officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He said Mr Barnes was in stable condition.
While this shooting has inevitably prompted calls for gun control - an unlikely possibility in conservative Texas, where the gun culture is strong - the state's Lieutenant Governor has a different idea: door control.
Dan Patrick said students are imperiled by excess school entrances and exits. At least one prominent Democrat reacted with derision.
We already heard from officials that explosive devices were found on and off the school's campus. Now NBC news is reporting, via a law enforcement official, that four pipe bombs were found in the school:
Following up on a previous post: while Texas officials are unlikely to take up gun control, a growing number of Democrats in Congress are issuing calls for them to do so:
Keep in mind that, after the Parkland, Florida high school shooting, the state's Republican governor worked with its Republican-controlled legislature to tighten gun laws (and, controversially, open the door to arming teachers). So there's recent precedent for school shootings prompting changes even in a state where Republicans hold power.
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