As news continues to pour in about the deadly school shooting in Santa Fe, a Texas man raised eyebrows when he arrived on scene with an American flag and a pistol on his hip to “make America great again.”
Some time after an active shooter alert went out early Friday, what went through this man’s head, he said, was “get to the school” and “make America great again.”
When asked about his plan of action, he replied, “Offering support. A ‘God bless, y’all’ would go a long ways right now for a lot of people.”
Then he walked off.
Another man being interviewed at the scene was enraged.
“We need prayers. This idiot is walking down the street with a damn pistol on his side where we just had kids get shot,” he said. “I’m a gun rights person. I have guns, okay. But this idiot is walking down here and saying he needs to ‘make America great again.’ That’s not what America needs, America needs prayers. We don’t need this crap.”
“This guy here is walking into a crime scene with a pistol and I hope they get him because this is a crime scene. This is an embarrassment,” he added.
KHOU reported that federal and county officials said there were multiple students killed and a wounded officer. The local news outlet also reported that there are at least eight dead. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez later said that the number killed is between eight and 10.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott later confirmed that there were 10 killed and 10 wounded.
The shooter, believed to be a student, has reportedly been arrested. Witnesses said the shooter had a shotgun. He has been identified as 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis.
The Santa Fe Independent School District’s statement on the shooting, per NPR:
This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The situation is active, but has been contained. There have been confirmed injuries. Details will be released as we receive updated information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location. All other campuses are operating under their regular schedules.
[Image via Twitter]