Ten dead after shooting at Texas high school

Nine students and one teacher at Sante Fe High School were killed in the shooting that occurred as the school day was beginning at 7.30am (10pm AEST), Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. Ten others were wounded including an armed police officer who worked as a school resource officer.

A 17-year-old student, identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was apprehended at the scene and has since been charged with 10 counts of murder.

A second student at Santa Fe High School, located about 48 kms from Houston, was detained as a 'person of interest' due to his suspicious behaviour after the shooting, Abbott said.

Pagourtzis was described by fellow students as sporty, quiet and regularly bullied. One student said he saw the 17-year-old football team member on Friday morning wearing a black trench coat, military boots and a t-shirt saying "Born To Kill".

On a Facebook profile that has since been removed, Pagourtzis posted an image three weeks ago of a t-shirt and trench coat. Authorities confirmed the profile belonged to the shooting suspect.

Pagourtzis explained the insignia on the coat in a Facebook post that said: "Duster Hammer and Sickle = Rebellion / Rising Sun = Kamikaze Tactics / Iron Cross = Bravery / Baphomet = Evil / Cthulhu = Power".

Galveston County judge Mark Henry said that several explosives were found at the high school and in nearby areas.

Fearing that more explosives may be planted around the area, he urged locals to call emergency services if they saw any suspicious items.

Governor Greg Abbott said at least two explosives - a carbon dioxide device and a Molotov cocktail - have been recovered and various other devices were found in a home and a vehicle connected to the suspect.

He said authorities recovered a journal with a note that said "not only that he wanted to commit the shooting but that he wanted to commit suicide afterwards".

He said two weapons were used in the shooting - a shotgun and a .38 revolver - and both belonged to the suspect's father. It's not clear if the father was aware that his son had take the guns.

Courtney Marshall, a 15-year-old freshman at the school, said the gunman came into her art class shooting.

"I wanted to take care of my friends, but I knew I had to get out of there," Marshall told Reuters, saying that she saw at least one person hit. "I knew the guy behind me was dead."

Another student, Angelica Martinez, said she heard a fire alarm go off and, about two minutes after students began evacuating, she heard gunshots. Other students said they heard what sounded like explosions.

"[Some students] were, like, 'run, run, there's gunshots!' Nobody believed them until the gunshots got closer and then we all started running," she told MSNBC. "Everybody ran to the nearest gas station and waited for their parents there."

Her mother, Angie Martinez, told MSNBC that he daughter called her during the fire alarm as the chaos broke out.

"I said, 'calm down', I said, 'find a hiding place'. She told me they were outdoors and a lot of students were running. I said, 'well, run to the bushes'. I said, 'don't get off the phone'."

Three people were transported to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston: one middle-aged male in a critical condition with gunshot injuries to his upper arm, one woman is good condition with a gunshot wound to the leg and one male student in a good condition with a gunshot wound to the leg.

Student Dakota Shrader said she initially thought it was a regular fire drill until she heard three shots and the sound of an explosion.

"All these teachers were telling us to run, run, go, go," she said, through tears. "This is a place where we're supposed to feel safe, nobody should have to go through this, nobody should have to feel that pain."

Abbott said that, unlike many of the mass shootings that have ravaged the United States recently including a shooting at a Florida high school three months ago, there were no warnings signs or "red flags" relating to Pagourtzis.

The "Born To Kill" t-shirt "may be the only... warning sign," he said.

"Here the red flag warnings were either non-existent or very imperceptible," he said. "As far as investigations by law enforcement agencies, as far as having a criminal history, he has none. His slate is pretty clean."

He said that an officer confronted the shooter and took him into custody.

Speaking at an event at the White House, US President Donald Trump said the country was dealing with "sadness and heartbreak".

"This has been going on too long in our country, too many years, too many decades now," he said.

"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."

He said his administration "is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others".

The latest such incident at a US school underscored a national debate over gun control and gun rights that has intensified after a student killed 17 students and staff on February 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Days after the Parkland shooting, Trump said that elected officials should be ready to "fight" the powerful NRA lobby group. Early this month he embraced that group, telling its annual meeting in Dallas "your Second Amendment rights are under siege" and, as long as he was President, their guns would never be taken away.

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution protects the right to bear arms.

No major federal gun controls have been imposed since Parkland, though the administration is pursuing a proposed regulatory ban on "bump stocks", which enable a semi-automatic rifle to fire a steady stream of bullets.

Just last month, students from Santa Fe High School had staged a walkout in solidarity with Marjory Stoneman students who had organised a national day of protest against gun violence.

This story first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald