Texas school shootout: Alleged shooter spared lives of people he liked

A teenager armed with a shotgun opened fire at the Santa Fe High School in Texas on Friday, May 18, killing 9 students and a teacher and injuring 10 others. The horrific incident comes just about two months after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida on February 14.

The 17-year-old suspect, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, had reportedly spared the lives of people he liked and only meant to kill the ones he targeted, according to a local court document. Pagourtzis had also cooperated with the police soon after the shooting. He was, however, denied bail by Galveston County Magistrate Mark Henry as he was accused of committing capital murder of multiple people, CNN reported.

Pagourtzis shot at the students with a shotgun and .38 revolver that belonged to his father. "We thought maybe someone was banging on the shop door or maybe something fell. At this point, we knew this was really happening to us. You could hear him getting closer. Everyone was crying, in complete tears, just in utter disbelief," a student from the high school was quoted as saying by CNN.

Soon after the teenager opened fire, the first to confront Pagourtzis was school safety officer John Barnes, a retired Houston police officer. Following this, heavily armed officers surrounded the school from all sides. According to reports, security forces had also found explosives in the school building. This prompted several warnings being posted on social media for people to not touch anything suspicious, Washington Post reported.

US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to express his grief over the incident. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas. To the students, families, teachers, and personnel at Santa Fe High School – we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever..."