17-yr-old teen charged for Texas high school shooting

A 17-year-old gunman identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who opened fire at a school in US state of Texas with a shotgun and a .38 revolver killing 10 people and wounding 10 others in the process has been charged with murder.

The suspect was immediately taken into custody moments after he was arrested for the deadly attack at Santa Fe High School, located about 50km southeast of Houston.

According to Texas Governor Greg Abbott the shooting was “one of the most heinous attacks that we’ve ever seen in the history of Texas schools”.

“It’s impossible to describe the magnitude of the evil of someone who would attack innocent children in a school,” Abbott told reporters on Friday afternoon.

Read also: Denuclearise now or end up like Ghadafi, Trump warns Kim Jong-Un

“As of this time, there have been 10 lives that have been lost, and another 10 wounded,” Abbott said.

“It’s time in Texas that we take action to step up and make sure this tragedy is never repeated ever again in the history in the state of Texas,” he added.

Recalling the incident, a witness told CNN affiliate KTRK that an armed person walked into an art class at the school and began firing what looked like a shotgun.

The witness told KTRK she saw a girl shot in the leg.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez revealed that most of the dead were students and also informed that a police officer was injured but the extent of the officer’s injuries is unknown.

Gonzalez added that there are “multiple casualties” but didn’t elaborate.

Houston-area media have also cited unnamed law enforcement officials saying there were fatalities.

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now