SANTA FE, Texas (AP) - Only weeks ago, a dozen students from Santa Fe High School[1] in Texas offered support for survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting by participating in a nationwide walkout seeking stricter gun control.
On Friday, it was Parkland students who declared their solidarity with teens in Santa Fe after a 17-year-old armed with a shotgun and a pistol opened fire at the Houston-area school[2], killing 10 people. It was the nation’s deadliest such attack since the Florida massacre that killed 17 and energized the teen-led gun-control movement.
Sophomore Kyle Harris, who took part in the walkout last month, was in first period when a fire alarm went off. Then, he heard teachers urging him to flee.
“The scariest thing is hearing a teacher who knows your name personally call you by your name and tell you to run,” Harris tweeted.
The suspected shooter, who was in custody on murder charges, also had explosive devices that were found in the school[3] and nearby, said Gov. Greg Abbott[4].
Investigators offered no motive. In a probable cause affidavit, however, authorities said the suspect admitted to the shooting.
The gunman also told investigators that when he opened fire Friday morning, “he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told,” according to the affidavit.
The governor said the assailant intended to kill himself but gave up and told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life.
The deaths were all but certain to re-ignite the debate over gun regulations, coming just three months after the Florida attack....
“It’s been happening everywhere. I’ve always kind of felt like that eventually it was going to happen here too,” Santa Fe High School[5] student Paige Curry told Houston television station KTRK. “I don’t know. I wasn’t surprised. I was just scared.”Another 10 people were wounded at the school[6] in Santa Fe, a city of about 13,000 people roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston, the governor said. The wounded included a school police officer who was the first to confront the suspect and got shot in the arm.Hospitals reported treating a total of 14 people for injuries related to the shooting.Zachary Muehe, a sophomore, was in his art class when he heard three loud booms.Muehe told The New York Times that a student he knew from football was armed with a shotgun and was wearing a shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Born to Kill.”“It was crazy watching him shoot and then pump. I remember seeing the shrapnel from the tables, whatever he hit. I remember seeing the shrapnel go past my face,” he told The Times.Michael Farina, 17, heard the fire alarm and thought it was a drill. He was holding a door open for special education students in wheelchairs when a