On Friday morning, a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas. Ten people are dead, and 13 others have been wounded.
Santa Fe, Texas, school shooting: what we know
At least 10 people are dead. Ten others were injured.
One suspect is in custody, identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis. He has been charged with capital murder and aggravated assault of a police officer.
Two other people are being questioned by police, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said Friday. Explosive devices were also discovered on the high school campus and surrounding area, according to law enforcement officials.
The shooting comes after months of activism in the US over guns and gun violence, led by the survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people in February.
“I was thinking it was going to happen eventually, it’s been happening everywhere,” Paige Curry, a Santa Fe High School student told a local Houston station. “I was ready to run out, but my teacher told me to hide instead, so that’s what I did.”
Here’s what we know and what we don’t so far about the shooting.
What we know
- A gunman opened fire Friday morning at Santa Fe High School, a public school roughly 30 miles southeast of Houston.
Javier Zarracina/Vox
- Ten people have been killed, and another 13 people have been wounded, the FBI said on Saturday.
- The fatalities “include students and some adult staff as well,” said Ed Gonzalez, Harris County sheriff, at a press conference just before noon Eastern time Friday.
- The suspect, who is in custody, has been identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis.
- Students told CNN and NBC News that Pagourtzis attended Santa Fe High School.
- Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder charges and aggravated assault of a police officer, KHOU reports. Court documents show that Pagourtzis admitted to the shooting, and told investigators he spared students he liked, reports The Houston Chronicle.
- Two other people are being questioned by police, according to Abbott. One person was at the scene, and the authorities are trying to figure out if the person may have had some involvement in the crime. Abbott said police are questioning another person who may have information about the crime.
- At least two weapons were confirmed to have been used in the attack: a shotgun and a .38 revolver. The authorities believe that both of those weapons were obtained by the shooter from his father, who legally owned these firearms, according to Abbott.
- Explosive devices were reportedly found on campus and the surrounding area, according to Santa Fe school district police. Officials warned community members to be on alert.
- Police have uncovered different kinds of explosive devices, including a CO2 device and a Molotov cocktail, Abbott said.
- The authorities have warrants out to search two residences but are working cautiously because of the potential for explosive devices, Abbott said.
- Witnesses said that the shooting began between 7:30 and 7:45 am CST, in an art class, according to KTRK.
- According to law enforcement officials, at least two armed officers were on campus, as outlined in the school’s safety plan. School district officers were able to confront the shooter, Abbott said. The school is also equipped with cameras, which will allow law enforcement to piece together how the crime unfolded.
- On Facebook, the school district said Friday morning, “The situation is active, but has been contained.”
- Eight students and two teachers were killed in Friday’s shooting. The students were identified as Shana Fisher, Angelique Ramirez, Christopher Jake Stone, Jared Black, Christian Riley Garcia, Sabika Sheikh, Aaron Kyle McLeod, and Kimberly Vaughan. The teachers were Glenda Perkins and Cynthia Tisdale.
What we don’t know
- If the shooter had an accomplice
- The identities of the people being questioned and their relationship to the shooter
- The motive for the shooting
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By Alexia Fernández Campbell
