At least 10 people are dead after a shooter began firing in an art class at Santa Fe High School, about 30 miles south of Houston.
Some information is unconfirmed and unsubstantiated, but multiple sources say that in addition to at least 10 dead, at least 12 are injured. A law enforcement officer was shot, but not seriously wounded and at least one suspect is in custody. The Santa Fe independent School District says the high school has been evacuated as police try to neutralize possible explosive devices found both on school grounds and off campus.
Tactical teams entered the building as air ambulances descended by helicopter on the campus.
Students said that sometime before 8 a.m., they heard an alarm and then they heard gunshots. A 10th grader at Santa Fe High School sobbed as she told Houston TV station KHOU that she heard a gunshot, got out of the classroom and called her mother.
Houston Public Media’s Travis Bubenik says reports of injuries began surfacing about an hour after the shooting.
“As things progressed, we heard that a suspect had been arrested, and then…we heard the official word from authorities that there were multiple fatalities,” Bubenik says. He cautions that estimates of the number of killed and wounded is likely to change as more information becomes available.
Bubenik says Harris County Sheriff’s officials said announced that in addition to the suspect, a second person was detained for questioning. Written by Shelly Brisbin.