Segun Atanda/
Nine students and one teacher have been killed, while another 12 have been injured, by a gunman who opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas, US.
Law enforcement officials and local hospitals have confirmed the casualty figure.
Eyewitnesses said the gunman, believed to be a student, burst through the door of an art class during first period, allegedly shouting “Surprise!” before opening fire.
The heavily armed student gunman has been taken into custody.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the 17-year-old male suspect, identified by law enforcement early Friday afternoon as Dimitrios ‘Dimitri’ Pagourtzis, was taken into custody and a second person of interest was detained.
The majority of the deceased victims were students, according to Gonzalez. As many as a dozen others were wounded, among them a police officer, who was reportedly shot in the shoulder.
The gunman reportedly carried out the massacre with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol and a shotgun.
On his now-deleted Facebook page, Pagourtzis on April 30, shared a photo of a black T-shirt with the words “Born to Kill” printed across the front.
Responding law enforcement officials later found pipe bombs both inside the school and at a site off campus, and urged town residents to be vigilant and call 911 if they see anything suspicious.
The Santa Fe Independent School District said in a statement Friday that authorities are in the process of rendering the recovered explosive devices safe. There’s no indication how many devices have been found.
President Trump was quick to take to Twitter, saying: “School shooting in Texas. Early reports not looking good. God bless all!”
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