Shooting at Santa Fe High School: What We Know

May 18, 2018

Early this morning, a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, reportedly killing at least 10 people, and injuring as many as 13 others.

The shooting in Santa Fe, comes after months of activism across the country, led by students and sparked by the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people in February. In the first 20 weeks of 2018, there have already been 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed—an average of more than one a week. The Santa Fe shooting was the third time someone with a gun was reported on a US school in recent days.

On May 16, an Illinois school resource officer shot and wounded a former student who fired a weapon near a graduation rehearsal at Dixon High School .
On May 11, a 14-year-old boy in Palmdale, California, went to Highland High , his former school, and began shooting a semi-automatic rifle shortly before classes began. He was taken into custody and is accused of attempted murder. One person was wounded.

While this situation in Santa Fe is still very fluid, the memo below includes a summary of information that’s been reported so far, in addition to background information about school shootings and Texas gun laws.

The incident

A gunman opened fire just after school had begun at Santa Fe High School, a public high school near Galveston, Texas. The high school has about 1,400 students.
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 to be reunited with their parents. [ ABC station KTRK ]
“Officers inside encountered a bloody mess in the school,” the source said, adding, “Evidently this guy threw pipe bombs all in there. We don’t know if any of them went off.” [ ABC station KTRK ]

The victims

At least 10 people died, nine of those killed are students and one teacher. [ CNN ]
At least 13 people were injured and treated at Texas hospitals. [ CNN ]
A school police officer was injured. John Barnes, a former Houston police officer who was retired and working with the school’s police department was shot in the shoulder and is expected to survive. [ Houston Chronicle ]

The weapons

The shooter appeared to be armed with a shotgun, and a.38 revolver, and explosive devices. CNN ]
None of the weapons were legally owned or obtained by the shooter. Both guns belonged to the shooter’s father. [ CNN ]
Possible explosive devices have been located both at the school, and at a site off campus. [ ABC13 ]

The response

Santa Fe Police, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and ATF agents were all called on site [ KTRK ]
At least 3 helicopters were seen waiting in the school parking lot. [ CNN ]

The suspects

Two people have been detained in the shooting at Santa Fe High School. [ CNN ]
Multiple outlets are identifying 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a student at Santa Fe high school, as the shooter [ NBC News ]Authorities found writings in the Texas shooting suspect’s journals that indicated he wanted to take his own life, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. [ CNN ]

Guns have no place in our nation’s schools. That’s why Texas and the vast majority of states — 47 of them in all—prohibit carrying or possessing a firearm on K–12 school property . But despite schools’ best efforts to keep guns off the premises, kids with access to guns sometimes bring them to school, and use them. In the first 20 weeks of 2018,there have already been 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed—an average of more than one a week. Over two-thirds of students who used guns to commit “targeted violence” against their school acquired the gun(s) used in their attacks from their own home or that of a relative. Alarmingly, over 1.69 million children and children under age 18 have access to guns because they live in homes with loaded and unlocked firearms. And one study showed that 73% of children aged nine and under-reported knowing the location of their parents’ firearms and 36% admitted that they had handled the weapons, including many whose parents had reported their children did not know the location of their firearm.

In 2016, Texas had the nation’s 28th highest gun death rate . In Texas, there are 11.7 gun deaths per 100,000 people. Texas has enacted almost no laws to keep residents safe from gun violence. Texas received an F on our state gun law scorecard and was ranked the 18th worst state for firearms laws. Texas does not require background checks prior to the transfer of a firearm by an unlicensed person; does not limit the number of firearms that may be purchased at one time; has not regulated unsafe handguns ; does not require firearm owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement; and has no significant regulation on ammunition sales . Texas is a major source of gun trafficking to other states. In 2016, Texas exported the third largest number of crime guns among the states.

In 2015, Texas passed dangerous laws that allow guns on public college and university campuses , and allow the open carry of firearms in public places. In 2017, Texas further weakened its gun laws by removing school districts’ authority to prohibit concealed carry permit holders from possessing firearms in vehicles in school parking lots .

Beyond physical injuries, gun violence has life-altering implications for the children who witness or survive shootings, particularly with regard to their mental health. Additional information about the impact of gun violence on children is detailed in a report from the Giffords Law Center, Protecting the Parkland Generation. Key findings include:

Since Columbine alone, more than 214,000 students in at least 216 elementary, middle, and high schools have experienced school shootings.
91% of children in high-income countries who are killed with firearms live in the United States.
Guns are now the third-leading cause of death for all Americans under age 18.
For Americans ages 14–17, the rate of lifetime exposure to shootings (including hearing gunshots as well as seeing someone shot) is 17%.
In real economic terms, the annual cost of gun violence to children alone is at least $21 billion.
Nearly 60% of all high school students report fears of a shooting at their school or in their community.
Nearly 40% of children exposed to a shooting will develop PTSD.
7th and 8th grade students who reported direct exposure to gun violence had a 36% increase in the number of recent aggressive episodes.

The substantial impact of gun violence can be mitigated with the adoption of gun safety laws that ensure firearms stay out of the hands of minors and those who may be a threat to themselves or others. These solutions include:

Mandating Safe Storage of Firearms: Safe storage laws codify accepted standards for responsible firearm storage practices, helping to prevent gun theft and reduce suicides, accidents, and homicides by children and unauthorized users.With 1.7 million American minors living in homes where guns are kept loaded and unlocked, it is critical that firearms are safely stored. The US Government Accountability Office has estimated that 31% of accidental gun deaths could be prevented by use of a child-proof gun lock in combination with other safety devices. Read more .
Passing Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws: Rather than explicitly requiring a gun to be locked when not in use, CAP laws impose criminal liability on adults who allow minors unsupervised access to firearms. Twenty-seven states and Washington DC have addressed this problem through child access prevention laws , which impose criminal liability on adults who allow minors to have unsupervised access to guns. These laws encourage responsible firearm storage and have proven to be extremely effective at ensuring that minors are not able to access a family member’s gun and use it to harm themselves or others. For example, Florida’s CAP law —the first such law in the country, which was accompanied by a major public education campaign— was associated with a 51% decrease in child unintentional shooting deaths between 1989 and 1997. Read more .
Incentivizing Gun Safety Technology: Gun safety technology could significantly reduce unintentional child shootings and youth suicides, as it would make it easy for owners to reliably secure their guns from children or by teens at risk for harming themselves. Read more .
Empowering Pediatricians to Discuss Gun Safety: Due to intimidation tactics by the NRA, many physicians do not talk about firearm storage or safety during visits even though they discuss other injury prevention practices such as helmet use, child passenger safety, or childproofing. A bill introduced in the Texas legislature in 2017 would have prohibited physicians from talking to their patients about firearms.
Enacting Risk-Based Gun Removal Laws: Several states have passed legislation that temporarily prohibit a dangerous person from purchasing or possessing firearms. This law allows family and household members to ask a court for an order disarming a person who is clearly at-risk for committing violence. Under the law, police officers can also petition a court for an order. Read more .
Closing Loopholes that Allow Domestic Abusers to Access Guns: With approximately 54% of mass shootings committed by domestic abusers, it is clear that preventing these individuals from accessing a gun is critical to mitigating gun violence. Read more .
Requiring Background Checks on All Gun Purchases: 97% of Americans want background checks to be required for all gun purchases, including purchases from private or unlicensed individuals. Yet federal law only requires licensed dealers to perform background checks, allowing guns to easily fall in the hands of dangerous individuals. Read more.
Investing in Community-Based Violence Intervention: In high-crime urban areas across the country, community-based intervention programs have substantially decreased rates of gun violence. Read more .

Firearms law and law enforcement experts are available today and over the weekend. To arrange an interview with an expert, email media@giffords.org .

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