via Harris County Sheriff’s Office Twitter
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been identified as the person responsible for today’s shooting at Santa Fe High School. Dimitrios Pagourtzis was a student at the school. Federal law enforcement has confirmed there are at least eight people dead and at least 12 people have been injured. A police officer was also injured in the shooting. Pagourtzis reportedly used a shotgun in the shooting. Pagourtzisis in custody while another person of interest was initially detained. While it was confirmed that the second person of interest is a student, it has not been revealed why they weer being detained.
Santa Fe High School was placed on when the shooting took place in an art class on campus between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. Santa Fe Police, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and ATF agents all responded to the shooting with Santa Fe ISD PD leading the investigation.. Pagourtzis was first identified by CBS News.
One witness, a Santa Fe student identified as Dustin, told ABC 13 that the shooter was wearing “big boots and a trench coat” and that the shooter was “bullied” and “didn’t have a lot of friends.” Dustin also indicated that Pagourtzis was “bullied by coaches”. According to unconfirmed reports from some witnesses, the shooter yelled “Surprise!” as the shooting began
Furthermore, the Santa Fe ISD tweeted that “possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus.” Law enforcement is currently in the process of rendering them safe. Authorities have confirmed that explosives have been found in the school and in the “areas adjacent to the school.”
Injured students and staff have been transported to local hospitals — seven victims were transported to Clear Lake Medical Center and another two were sent to Mainland Medical Center.
Photo from Pagourtzis’ since-deleted Facebook account
The Santa Fe ISD released the following statement on Facebook:
“This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The situation is active but has been contained. There have been confirmed injuries. Details will be released as we receive information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location. All other campuses are operating under their regular schedules.
Students from the high school are being transported by SFISD transportation to the Alamo Gym located at 13306 Highway 6. Parents may reunite with their students at this location.
This district will continue to keep you updated as information is available. Safety and communication are our top priorities.
Santa Fe school district superintendent released the following statement:
“It is with great sadness that I stand here to share with you that we experienced an unthinkable tragedy at our high school this morning. We are grieving the loss of members of our SFISD family.”
Santa Fe High School, located at 16000 Highway 6, is roughly 36 miles outside of Houston. According to the Texas Education Agency, the high school enrollment is about 1,400 students.
The shooting at Santa Fe High School is just the latest in a string of lockdowns, bomb threats, and shootings that have plagued the United States. This incident follows similar lockdowns and shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Florida, Dodd Middle School in Connecticut, Windham Public Schools also in Connecticut, Pacoima Middle School in Los Angeles, Millennium Middle School in Florida, and US Grant High School in Oklahoma, which are just some of the places where events such as this have occurred.
President Trump tweeted “School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!” He also spoke to the media about the shooting, saying “We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. We’re with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever. May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded and may God be with the victims and with the victims’ families. Very sad day. Very, very sad.”
Over the course of the past few years, shootings such as these have been a plagued the United States, yet tangible change to protect the lives of students has been lacking.
