#UPDATE Possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. Call 911 if you see any suspicious item. #HouNews #SantaFeISD — Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018
EMBED >More News Videos Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales brief media on the shooting at Santa Fe HS
#UPDATE
Dr. Superintendent Leigh Wall:
It is with great sadness that I stand here to share with you that we experienced an unthinkable tragedy at our high school this morning. We are grieving the loss of members of our SFISD family. #SantaFeISD — Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018
EMBED >More News Videos Santa Fe High School students being escorted out by officers after active shooter incident
EMBED >More News Videos Santa Fe High School student Leila Butler talks to ABC13 about the active shooter on campus.
EMBED >More News Videos President Trump gives remarks on the Santa Fe High School shooting.
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... pic.twitter.com/LtJ0D29Hsv — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018
We’re currently in protect mode as a precaution because of reports of a shooting at Santa Fe HS. Doors are locked & personnel are stationed at outer doors to let people in and out. No students allowed outside of building. Field trips are postponed until we go off of protect mode. — Dickinson ISD (@DickinsonISD) May 18, 2018
At least one gunman opened fire at a Santa Fe High School killing eight to 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. Now possible explosive devices have been located both at the school, and at a site off campus.Anyone who sees anything suspicious is urged to call 911.Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he could not be precise about the number of deaths at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. Two suspects believed to be students were in custody.The school district confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it would not immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect had been arrested."We hope the worst is over, and I really can't say any more about that because it would be pure speculation," Richardson told reporters at the scene.Witnesses say the shooting took place in an art class on campus between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. Students were evacuated from the building, and backpacks were searched before they were transported to Alamo Gym at 13306 Highway 6 to be reunited with their parents."We thought it was a fire drill at first but really, the teacher said, 'Start running,'" student Leila Butler said.President Donald Trump offered his condolences amid the tragedy.Other nearby school districts put protective measures in place as well.Santa Fe is roughly 36 miles outside of Houston. According to the Texas Education Agency, the high school enrollment is about 1,400 students.
(CNN) Ten people were killed and several others injured in a shooting Friday morning at a high school in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe, a law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity.
Gunfire erupted at Santa Fe High School, about 20 miles outside Galveston, not long after classes began around 7:30 a.m. CT, officials said. Authorities later found explosive devices -- including pipe bombs and pressure cookers -- in and near the school, the law enforcement official said.
A male suspect, believed to be a student, has been arrested in the shooting, and a second person -- also believed to be a student -- has been detained as well, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
Two law enforcement officers are among the injured, according to the source who spoke anonymously.
One man is in critical condition with a gunshot wound in one of his arms, said David Marshall, chief nursing officer for University of Texas Medical Branch hospital.
This is the third school shooting in eight days across the United States, and the 22nd since the beginning of the year.
Witnesses described students running from the school as they heard gunshots; they also described hearing an alarm at the school, though the sequence of events wasn't immediately clear.
Authorities found explosive devices in the high school and in adjacent areas, said Walter Braun, Santa Fe Independent School District police chief. It wasn't immediately clear if any had exploded.
Santa Fe High School junior Guadalupe Sanchez, 16, cries in the arms of her mother, Elida Sanchez, after reuniting with her at a meeting point at a nearby fitness center after Friday's shooting.
Because the devices were found, Braun urged people in the city of about 13,000 people to "not touch any items that look out of place, and call 911" if they see something suspicious.
The school has been cleared of all students and staff, who have been directed to a nearby facility to reunite with their families, Braun said.
Witness: Shooter fired gun in an art class
An armed person walked into an art class at the school and began firing what looked like a shotgun, a witness told CNN affiliate KTRK
The witness told KTRK she saw a girl shot in the leg.
At least 12 people from the school are being treated at three hospitals, authorities said. Seven people are at Clear Lake Regional Medical in Webster, Texas; two patients are being treated at Mainland Medical Center in Texas City and three patients are at John Sealy University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Aerial video from the scene showed several police officers outside the school. Some were searching students and their backpacks.
Witnesses describe hearing an alarm as well as gunfire
Angelica Martinez, a 14-year-old student, told CNN she and her schoolmates were being evacuated at one point "like it's a fire drill."
"We were all standing (outside), but not even five minutes later, we started hearing gunshots," she said. "And then everybody starts running, but like the teachers are telling us to stay put, but we're all just running away."
"I didn't see anybody shooting, but like (the gunshots) were kind of spaced," Angelica said, adding she heard about four shots.
The witness who spoke to KTRK also said she heard an alarm. She didn't specify if that was before or after the gunfire she described in the art class.
She said she couldn't describe the shooter.
"I didn't look. I just ran," she said.
Police officers work a checkpoint in front of Santa Fe High School in response to the shooting.
Another student, Dakota Shrader, told CNN affiliate KPRC that she heard gunshots only after hearing an alarm in the school.
"I was in the history hallway, and as soon as we heard the alarms, everybody just started leaving following the same procedure as ... (a) practice fire drill," Shrader said, breaking into tears. "And next thing you know, we just hear ... three gunshots, loud explosions, and all the teachers are telling us to run."
Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson after Friday's shooting.
The entire school district is on lockdown, district officials said.
The high school has about 1,400 students, according to GreatSchools.org.
Three shootings in eight days
Friday's shooting was the third at a US school in recent days.
On Wednesday, an Illinois school resource officer shot and wounded a former student who fired a weapon near a graduation rehearsal at Dixon High School , authorities said. The suspected gunman faces three charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm.
On May 11, a 14-year-old boy in In Palmdale, California, went to Highland High, his former school, and began shooting a semiautomatic rifle shortly before classes began, authorities said . He was taken into custody and is accused of attempted murder. One person was wounded.
Trump: Mass shootings have been 'going on too long in our country'
President Donald Trump addressed the school shooting in Santa Fe Friday, saying that mass shootings have been "going on too long."
"Unfortunately, I have to begin by expressing our sadness and heartbreak over the deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas," Trump said from the East Room of the White House. "This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years. Too many decades now."
Trump said federal authorities are coordinating with local officials.
"We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack," Trump said.
In this image taken from video, law enforcement officers respond to a high school near Houston after an active shooter was reported on campus, in Santa Fe, Texas. (Photo: KTRK-TV ABC13, AP)
A shooter opened fire at a Texas high school, killing at least eight people Friday morning.
Here's what we know about the shooting at Santa Fe High School, located in Santa Fe, Texas, south of Houston.
What happened
Witnesses described the shooter firing inside a classroom about 7:40 a.m., sending students running out of the building, hopping over fences and taking shelter in a nearby car wash.
Tyler Turner, a student, told KTRK-TV in Houston, his friends saw the gunman with a shotgun. The gunman, Turner said, pulled the fire alarm, bringing students out of their classrooms.
One student, who identified herself as Paige to KRTK-TV, said she hid backstage in an auditorium as the first shots rang out. She called her mom on her cellphone, who told her to remain calm, breathe and follow the teachers' directions. "I was very, very scared," she said.
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Explosives
The Santa Fe Independent School District tweeted that possible explosives have been found at the school and off campus. The school has been evacuated.
#UPDATE Possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. Law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. School has been evacuated. Call 911 if you see any suspicious item. #HouNews#SantaFeISD — Santa Fe ISD (@SantaFeISD) May 18, 2018
Police urged people to report any suspicious items found around town because of the discovery of explosives.
Where is the shooter?
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that one person was in custody and a second person was detained.
Who is injured?
Gonzalez said "eight to 10" people were killed. He also said one person was in custody and a second "person of interest" was detained. An injured officer is also being treated, Gonzalez said.
"We're still searching, so there could be more injured," he said.
TV aerial footage showed groups of students being herded out of the rear of the school and a sheet believed to be covering a body on the lawn outside. Students described bloodied students fleeing the school and several stretchers of injured students ferried to ambulances.
Three people from the school have been admitted to the University of Texas Medical Branch, according to spokesman Christopher Smith Gonzalez.
Two of the patients are adults and one is a minor. One of the adults is in surgery and the other is being evaluated in the emergency room, Gonzalez said. The minor was also admitted.
Gonzalez could not share details on the extent of the injuries sustained by the patients arriving at UTMB or whether the adults were teachers or staff at the school
How did students react?
Megan Hunter came out of her classroom and followed the rush of students fleeing the school. "I was shaking, my anxiety was bad," she told a local news station. "I don’t even know what to think."
Paige, the student who spoke KTRK-TV, isn't surprised that the shooting was unfolding at her school.
"It's been happening everywhere," she said. "I always felt eventually it would happen here, too."
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