HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed when a shooter opened fire inside Santa Fe High School in the southeast of Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas, Friday morning, local police said.
An unnamed Santa Fe police officer told reporters the death toll of the shooting is believed to be "fewer than ten". He also confirmed that explosives were found at the high school campus.
He said the suspect shooter was in custody and another person was detained and questioned. "Both of them are students," he said.
The officer urged local resident to stay alarmed and call 911 when seeing something suspicious.
Earlier, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters that the death toll "could be anywhere between 8 to 10" with the majority of students. He also confirmed there were multiple injuries, but didn't give an exact number.
Gonzalez said the shooting happened before school started, around 7:30 to 8:00 a.m.
It is confirmed by local police that a Santa Fe Independent School District (ISD) officer was also injured in the shooting and is under surgery with critical condition.
Several ambulances, including a mass casualty ambulance, along with multiple Life Flight helicopters, were seen at the site. Multiple victims have been transported to a nearby hospital, some of them in critical condition.
Interviewed by media, several students said they had been trained what to do when a shooting happens, but never thought a real shooting would happen.
Santa Fe High School is located in Galveston County, about 54 km southeast of downtown Houston. There are about 1,400 students in the high school. Santa Fe is a city with a population about 13,000.
The school was on lockdown Friday.
The county is about 360 km east of Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a gunman barged into a church last November and murdered 26 people.
