Many parents, families and friends of the victims of Friday’s shooting at a school in the state of Texas attended church services on Sunday, grieving the 10 people who were killed just two days earlier.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott attended a service at Arcadia First Baptist Church in Santa Fe on Sunday, hugging mourning parishioners.
Three months after the shooting deaths of 17 people at a school in Parkland, Florida, ignited student-led calls for stronger gun control laws, a shooter killed 10 people, most of them students, at the Santa Fe High School in Texas.
On Sunday morning, Texas’ Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick linked gun violence to violent video games and social media, saying that the United States has “devalued life.”
“Whether it’s through abortion, whether it’s the breakup of families, through violent movies, and particularly violent video games,” Patrick told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday morning, insisting that arming teachers, a controversial solution proposed by many gun rights activists, is necessary.
Fred Guttenberg, a parent of one of the children killed in Parkland in February, called the comments “idiotic” and “moronic,” calling instead for stricter gun control laws.
Texas officials charged a 17-year-old with capital murder following the deadly shooting Santa Fe High School.
Students said the gunman, identified by law enforcement as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a school junior, opened fire before 8 a.m. Friday at Santa Fe High School.
Texas Governor Abbott said police found explosive devices, including a fire bomb, at the suspected shooter’s home and in a vehicle, as well as around the high school where the shooting took place.
Abbot said the suspect, who is in custody and waived his right to remain silent, originally intended to commit suicide following the shooting but told law enforcement after he was arrested that he didn’t have the courage to go through with it.
The governor said two guns were used in the attack, a shotgun and a .38 revolver. He said both guns were owned by the suspect’s father, but said it was not clear whether the father knew his son had taken the guns.
Among the victims are a substitute teacher and a foreign exchange student.
Santa Fe is located in southeastern Texas between the cities of Houston and Galveston.