Students are checked before entering Santa Fe High School. Photo / AP
Students are checked before entering Santa Fe High School. Photo / AP
At least 10 people were killed Friday in a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School, a deadly rampage that has forced the Southeast Texas community to become the latest to grapple with gun violence in the nation's schools.
They were attending art class during first period - just after7:30 a.m. - when a teenager with two guns entered the room, yelling "Surprise" and opening fire. Students and teachers scrambled, some out into a hallway and others into a supply closet, shushing each other in an effort to elude detection, reports Washington Post.
Witnesses described a lengthy series of shootings while police tried to intervene; one police officer was shot and critically wounded. Police ultimately got the gunman to surrender, and he has been charged with capital murder.
Jack Roady, the Galveston County district attorney, confirmed the names of those who died in the shooting as teachers Glenda Perkins and Cynthia Tisdale and students Kimberly Vaughan, Shana Fisher, Angelique Ramirez, Christian Riley Garcia, Jared Black, Sabika Sheikh, Christopher Jake Stone, and Aaron Kyle McLeod.
Here are some of their stories. This article will be updated.
Christian Riley Garcia would hop on water skis and be pulled by the boat around the lake, ride Jet Skis and stay up late with his family to go night fishing during trips to Crosby, Texas, where the family would vacation in the summers.
His cousin, Ashley Fonseca, 21, said her fondest memories were with Riley at that lake. She recently promised him they would go on a trip to Six Flags amusement park soon, and he was supposed to meet her brother's newborn baby.
Christian Riley Garcia, 15. Photo / Twitter
On Friday, Fonseca saw there was another school shooting and thought "that's crazy," before realizing her cousin was missing. She learned eight hours later that he was among the dead.
"We were supposed to make the trip to go back up there this summer to go to the lake again," she said, her voice trailing off.
Fonseca tweeted how she was at a loss for words and that her heart "is hurting sooo bad."
In a picture posted by Crosby Church on Facebook, Riley rested his head next to a psalm he hand wrote on the door frame of what would be his new bedroom.
The scripture read: "He said, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.'"
Christopher Jake Stone, 17
Christopher Stone was never the biggest player on the football field. But he was versatile, playing center, guard, defensive tackle and wherever else a coach needed him, said Mercedez Stone, his sister.
There was another quality that made him indispensable: "He had lot of heart," Mercedez, 19, said in a Facebook message.
Stone, the youngest of three, protected Mercedez and their sister, Angelica Stone, 21, with the ferocity of an older brother. The trio were known as the "three Stones."
"Being a brother was his best job," Mercedez Stone said. "He was always there if someone needed someone to listen or some cheering up. Definitely the life of the party, and one of the most understanding, open-minded kids I know."
He delighted in PlayStation 4 games with his gamer friends and sought adventure - hiking, jet skiing, parasailing and ziplining, Mercedez Stone said.
Cynthia Tisdale, a substitute teacher, frequently worked at Santa Fe High School, said her son, Recie Tisdale. The 63-year-old started to substitute teach because "she loved to help children," he said.
"She didn't have to do it," said Recie Tisdale, a police detective. "She did it because she loved it."
Cynthia Tisdale lived in Dickinson, Texas, with her husband, William, who said his wife had also worked as a paralegal for more than two decades. The couple, married nearly 47 years, have three children and 11 grandchildren.
"She was a good woman," William Tisdale said. "She watched out for me."
Angelique Ramirez, 15
A family friend confirmed that Angelique Ramirez was killed in Santa Fe High School on Friday. In less than 15 hours, a $10,000 online fundraising goal in her memory was exceeded.
Angelique Ramirez (right). Photo / GoFundMe
Ramirez was compassionate and caring, Rebecca Ruiz, a family friend, wrote on Ramirez' GoFundMe page. Contacted Saturday, Ruiz said that Ramirez' mother, Robin, has requested privacy as the family grieves.
"She brought smiles to those who knew her," Ruiz wrote. "In losing Angelique, her friends and family lost so much."
Sabika Sheikh, 18
Abdul Aziz Sheikh thought his daughter would be safe in the United States, sending his daughter to a school in Texas as part of a cultural exchange program created by the U.S. State Department to foster understanding. But Sabika Sheikh, 18, was killed Friday while at school.
"We found out about the shooting from a local TV channel, and tried, but failed, to contact Sabika and her friends," her father said in an interview from Karachi, describing the episode as like a nightmare.
Sabika was the eldest of three sisters and had an older brother. Another exchange student, Sayyed Zaman Haider, said Sheikh was about to return home to them: The academic year was ending, so she was almost done with her cultural exchange. Her family said he was due home on June 9, and her relatives had been counting the days, her father said.
Sabika Sheikh, 18. Photo / Twitter
She had been hoping to become a social worker to address women's issues in Pakistan, with an aim of empowering women there, said her uncle, Jalil Sheikh.
Her uncle described Sabika as "very jolly and brilliant" and said she always encouraged and motivated others.
Sabika Sheikh was in Texas with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program, which was created in 2003 to promote democracy, civic engagement, and national security, according to an official with the State Department. More than 10,000 students from approximately 45 countries have spent an academic year at U.S. high schools, living with American families who volunteer with the program. She was one of 72 students from Pakistan this year.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Saturday that "Sabika's death and that of the other victims is heartbreaking and will be mourned deeply both here in the United States, and in Pakistan."
Ambassador David Hale of the U.S. Embassy Pakistan announced early Saturday that he had called Sabika Sheikh's family to offer his deepest condolences.
"As an exchange student, Sabika was a youth ambassador, a bridge between our peoples and cultures," he wrote on the embassy's Facebook page. "All of us at the U.S. Mission in Pakistan are devastated by and mourn her loss. We will honor her memory."
The American Councils for Interational Exchange, which administered the program for the State Department, said in a statement Saturday that officials there are grieving.
"Exchange is an experience filled with new discoveries and friendship. We are devastated that this tragedy has become part of the narrative for one of our students," the group said. "We send our deepest condolences to Sabika's friends, family, and loved ones in the U.S., Pakistan, and around the world."
