TEN KILLED. Nine high school students and one teacher were murdered, while 10 remain injured as of press time at Santa Fe High School in Texas on the morning of Friday, May 20, after a gunman opened fire. This comes just a little more than three months after the Valentine’s Day school massacre in Parkland, Florida.
The suspect was identified by the Galveston County sheriff as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old student of the same school in Santa Fe, and is now being held without bond on a capital murder charge.
According to the report by the New York Times, the suspect appeared to have obtained a shotgun and a .38 revolver from his father, who legally owned them, the authorities said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Pagourtzis had not come to the attention of the authorities before, but what could perhaps be the most menacing sign of trouble was perhaps a shirt, included on Mr. Pagourtzis’s Facebook page, that read ‘born to kill.” There were reportedly no indications that the teen had a criminal record or any history with law enforcement.
On Friday, the Santa Fe Independent School District stated on Twitter that “explosive devices” had been found both on the campus and in surrounding areas. State officials said at a news conference that different types of explosive devices had been identified elsewhere as well.
This tragedy is the 22nd school shooting this year alone, after a string of so many other mass shootings that has rocked this nation to its core, with people asking: WHEN WILL THIS END?
In his public remarks on the Santa Fe shooting, President Donald Trump said on Friday, “This has been going on too long in our country. Too many years. Too many decades now.”
“We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack,” he said.
As CNN reported that on Friday afternoon, Trump ordered flags at half-staff in memory of the victims “of the terrible act of violence.”
“Our Nation grieves with those affected by the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas,” Trump said in a proclamation with the order. “May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded, and may God be with the victims and with the victims’ families.”
BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS, Mr. President. Blood on the hands of the men and women in Congress who have not enacted any sensible stricter gun laws since the Parkland School massacre.
No sensible gun laws have been signed into law despite the drama and theatrics in the White House when Trump had a “listening session” with the victims of so many mass shootings in America.
No stricter gun laws and regulations have been legislated even after Trump told the lawmakers not to be afraid of the powerful National Rifle Association and just craft stricter gun control laws to save lives, especially those of the young innocent children and innocent civilians…not even after the protests, rallies, and clamor of the American people.
The National Rifle Association — with its money, power and influence over Trump and the Republicans in Congress who have been ignoring the call and will of the majority of the American people, including those of responsible gunners and Republicans — have won again over the safety and protection of this nation.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
