A 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been identified as the person dressed in a trenchcoat and armed with a shotgun and a revolver, who barged inside a classroom at a southeast Texas high school on Friday and opened fire, killing at least 10 people and terrorising hundreds more, officials said.
Nine students and one teacher were killed in the shooting at Santa Fe High School, according to several law enforcement sources.
At a prayer vigil held in Santa Fe Friday evening, schools Superintendent Leigh Wall said that counselors would be available for students and their families, that law enforcement would find the answers that the community is seeking, and that those affected will be supported.
“This is only the first of many times that we’ll come together to lift our community back up,” she said. “Today is a day to begin mourning those we have lost, and nursing those who are hurt. We are in this together.”
The murder suspect was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis and police were seeking to gain access to his mobile and computer, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
"Not only did he want to commit the shooting, he wanted to commit suicide," Abbott said. "He gave himself up. He didn't have the courage to commit suicide."
The weapons that Pagourtzis had with him belonged to his father and there is "no information whether he was aware the son had taken the weapons," Abbott added.
Later in the evening, Pagourtzis, wearing a gray prison jumpsuit and shackles, shuffled into a hearing room in the Galveston County Jail with his head bowed for his video arraignment.
"Yes, sir," he mumbled when asked by Galveston County Judge Mark Henry if he understood the charges.
Pagourtzis requested a court-appointed lawyer when asked if he required one. He is being held on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant.
