Texas school shooting: Ten dead as suspect is named as Dimitrios Pagourtzis amid police search for explosives

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America is once again grappling with the the plague of school gun violence, after 10 people were shot dead and at least 10 others injured when a gunman entered his Texas school and opened fire.

Shots rang out at Santa Fe High School on Friday morning, in what would become the 22nd school shooting in the US this year. Students recalled hearing a fire alarm and thinking it was a drill, until they heard the sound of gunshots.

Police suspect that 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who witnesses said was wearing a trench coat in a manner that immediately called to mind the 1999 school shooting in Columbine, Colorado, entered an art class and opened fire with with what officials believe was his father’s shotgun and .38 revolver.

The teenager is currently being held by police on capital murder charges – namely charges that carry the death penalty. Texas governor Greg Abbott said two other people were being questioned as “persons of interest”.

Follow latest updates after shooting attack at Santa Fe high school

“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,” Santa Fe Independent School District superintendent Leigh Wal said in a statement.

She added: “We are grieving the loss of members of our SFISD family.”

The suspected shooter was said to have been a former American football player and danced in a religious group at the school, located 40 miles from Houston.

The school district said possible explosive devices had been located at the school and off the campus. Law enforcement officials were attempting to make them safe.

At least 10 people – including one police officer – were taken to hospital in the wake of the shooting. The police officer was injured attempting to engage the shooter, according to Harris County sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The extent of his injuries was unknown.

Representatives from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston said they had received three patients – two adults and one minor. The minor was admitted to the hospital while the adults were being treated in the emergency room.

Clear Lake Regional Medical Centre in Webster received seven injured students, according to a spokeswoman for the facility. Two other injured students were taken to Mainland Medical Centre in Texas City, the spokeswoman said.

Witnesses said the shooting took place in an art class on campus between 7.30am and 7.45am local time. One sophomore at the school said students were participating in what seemed to be a fire drill when they heard the shots.

“The next thing you know everyone looks and you just hear, ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’” student Dakota Shrader told CBS News. “I just ran as fast as I could to the nearest forest to hide and call my mom.” She also said her friend was shot during the incident.

Students were evacuated from the school and transported to a local gym to be reunited with their parents, according to the school district. Other schools in the district remained on regular schedules.

One student, a 17-year-old junior who asked to remain anonymous, told The Independent that she thought the fire alarm going off was a drill, and that she and her friends were joking and walking out of the building when a “normally level-headed” teacher began “screaming at us to run and duck for cover”. She said that another teacher was “crying hysterically” as she tried to get children out of the building.

That student, who said it was the worst day of her life, said that about 250 students ran across the street from the school and hid behind an auto store. She then began to frantically search for her 15-year-old brother, who was safe. The chaos felt very similar to a false alarm in February, she said, when popping sounds triggered a lock down after a girl posted pictures of a semi-automatic rifle online.

“I wasn’t surprised, either, after our fake-out in February,” the student said. “It felt like it was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode since then. No one is ever really prepared for something like this.”

Surrounding school districts were placed on “protect mode” as a precaution. Doors were locked and personnel were stationed at outer doors, and no students were allowed outside of building.

The Santa Fe Police, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all responded to the scene.

Galveston County sheriff Henry Trochesset identified Mr Pagourtzis as the suspected shooter. Authorities also found explosive devices, including a molotov cocktail, in his home and around the school.

Official said they found writings in Mr Pagourtzis’s journals that indicated he wanted to commit suicide, Mr Abbott said. Photos on the suspect’s Facebook page showed a T-shirt reading “born to kill”.

“As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didn’t have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier,” Mr Abbott said.

The incident is just the latest in a series of deadly shootings to rock the US, and the 22nd this year alone to have involved at least one injury or death.

President Donald Trump called the shooting an “absolutely horrific” incident. “This has been going on too long in our country,” he said in remarks at a prison reform summit.

Mr Trump has suggested arming school teachers and abolishing “gun free zones” in order to protect students.

Ted Cruz, a US senator from Texas, tweeted that he was keeping the students and faculty at Santa Fe High School in his prayers.

The incident occurred just over three months after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and staff members were killed. The shooting sparked renewed calls for gun control reform, and a debate over how best to protect students. Survivors were clear that more action needed to be taken in the wake of the latest shooting. They were joined in such calls by a number of legislators, including Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi.

“To everyone at Santa Fe High School, I hope you’re safe, I’m so sorry this is happening, and I’m so sorry that it continues to happen,” tweeted Sarah Chadwick, a survivor of the Parkland shooting.

She added: “No one should be in the situation that you’re all currently in. I’m not going to say thoughts and prayers but instead policy and action.”