A student was arrested after shooting 10 people in his high school in Santa Fe, Texas on Friday, the umpteenth school-related shootout despite calls from hundreds of thousands of young Americans to change firearms legislation in their schools.
"It is with sadness that I can confirm that 10 people were killed and 10 were wounded," said Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who visited the small town of Santa Fe, where produced the drama early Friday morning.
The Texas gunman used his father's weapons, according to the state governor. He also reportedly left explosives in a house and a vehicle.
"The majority (of the dead) are likely students," said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, adding that the gunman was a student at the school, who was arrested. A second person is questioned, according to the sheriff.
Several American media have identified the gunman as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who according to the Houston Chronicle was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a revolver, a shotgun and homemade bombs.
The mode of operation, the juvenile appearance of the suspect and the disarray of the teenagers filmed evacuating by the national televisions give an air of déjà vu to this new shooting in a school. Three months ago, 17 people died under the bullets of a 19-year-old boy in a high school in Parkland, Florida, the massacre triggering a national mobilization.
"It has been going on for too long in our country," he said from the White House, assuring his administration was determined to do "everything in its power" to protect students and ensure that "those that pose a threat to themselves and others "can not hold weapons.
Molotov cocktail
The shooter also left explosives in a house and a vehicle, Greg Abbott warned.
"One of the reasons we are concerned about explosives is the fact that we have detected different types," he said. Sheriff Gonzalez had already indicated that fire crews were on site.
As for the weapons used - a pistol and a rifle - "the shooter recovered these two weapons from his father (...) I do not know if the father was aware," said the governor, adding that he owned them legally.
Images from online accounts associated with Dimitrios Pagourtzis surfaced, including one where the young man photographed a black t-shirt with the phrase "Born to Kill".
The governor explained that information already found "in his newspapers on his computer and his phone" had established that the shooter, who surrendered himself, planned to commit suicide after the attack he had planned.
Victims include a police officer who was seriously injured in one arm and in critical condition.
Richard Allen, a student parent, told local KTRK that he arrived there shortly after the start of the shooting. "My son said that someone came into the art class room and started shooting a lot of students," he said.
This is the latest shooting incident in a US school and it revives for the Texans the memory of 25 victims, including a pregnant woman, shot dead in a church in the south of the state last November.
"Once again, Texas saw the face of the devil," said Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday.