SANTA FE, Texas – In the hours after a school shooting that left 10 people dead in the Houston suburb of Santa Fe, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to take action to “make sure this tragedy is never repeated again.”
Seventeen-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a junior at Santa Fe High School, is accused of carrying a shotgun and a .38 revolver into the school and shooting nearly two dozen people before being taken into custody. At least 10 victims were wounded.
Abbott called the shooting “one of the most heinous acts that we’ve ever seen in the history of Texas schools.”
The governor promised to begin roundtable discussions next week between legislators, community members, educators and parents and victims of shootings.
“We will assemble all stakeholders to begin to work immediately on swift solutions to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” he said.
Abbott stopped short of calling any measure gun control or gun reform, but said the state needs to put together laws “that will protect 2nd Amendment rights” but also “ensure that our communities and schools are safer places.”
Abbott mentioned background checks and resources to address mental health issues behind gun violence, as well as increasing safety personnel to protect schools. He praised Lubbock ISD for its mental health training and awareness initiatives.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spoke after Abbott in the Friday afternoon press conference in Santa Fe, echoing a need for increases in safety measures at schools. He cited “too many” entrances and exits at the state’s roughly 8,000 campuses and proposed “looking at the design of our schools going forward.”
He said having just one entrance to Santa Fe High School – and a security officer stationed outside of it – might have stopped Pagourtzis, who Patrick says walked into the school with a long coat to conceal his shotgun.
Patrick also urged parents to lock up their guns in a safe place. Pagourtzis is believed to have used his father’s guns in Friday’s shooting. It wasn’t clear if his father was aware that the guns were in the teenager’s hands.
Sen. Ted Cruz reiterated that the state and country needs to do "everything possible" to prevent school shootings.
"In the public policy arena, we need to be doing everything humanly possible to stop this from ever happening again," he said. "To stop violent criminals. To stop them from getting firearms. To stop them from getting access to schools. To incarcerate them when they try to illegally purchase firearms."
Most of the victims in Friday’s shooting were students. Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder and aggravated assault of a police officer.