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.
Some context to help put this in perspective: according to this analysis, more American school children have died from gun violence than soldiers this year
The father of one of the students killed in Parkland, Florida earlier this year weighed in: "how many kids in this country are we going to let get murdered in a school?"
Texas and California have had something of a (political) rivalry over the years, but today it's all about shows of support:
Folks gathered at a vigil outside a bank in Santa Fe, Texas. Reporters on the ground described cars spilling out of the parking lot and people crowding the lawn, many holding candles. Officials offered prayers and statements of grief.
Gov Greg Abbott spoke, telling mourners that “the entire state of Texas embraces you, supports you and prays for this entire community”, and noting that he is planning to convene public roundtables to marshal a response.
“No child, no parent, no student, no community should ever have to go through with this again, and so we will work until we come up with answers to address the challenge that Santa Fe faced today”, he said.
Also in attendance was US Senator Ted Cruz, who talked about people uplifting their neighbours and suggested that a “culture” shift was driving increased danger to school children.
“For many of us, when we were kids, the worst you had to be worry about in school was someone taking a swing at you and giving you a bloody nose”, Mr Cruz said.
The Santa Fe Independent School District has confirmed places of learning will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, noting they'll have additional grief counselors on hand when they re-open.
Shooting suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis is being held in solitary confinement, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry reportedly said after the suspect appeared in court for the first time.
"He's going to be here a while", Judge Henry was quoted as saying.
Newly released court documents say shooting suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis told authorities he spared the lives of students he liked so that “he could have his story told.”
According to that document, he admitted to carrying out the shooting “with the intent of killing people”.
A vast array of law enforcement resources have been deployed to sift through the wreckage, among them SWAT teams, bomb technicians and K9 units
The FBI has noted that the school where the shooting has occurred remains a closed, active crime scene and will remain so "for some time".
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