An alleged President Trump supporter has come under fire after he turned up outside a Santa Fe high school during a mass shooting – wearing a MAGA hat and brandishing an American flag and handgun.
Local news networks were near the scene of the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, which left ten dead on Friday, when the unnamed man approached them, wearing the political statement.
‘What was going through your head when you heard this was going on?’ a reporter asked.
A President Trump supporter has come under fire after he turned up outside a Santa Fe high school during a mass shooting – wearing a MAGA hat and brandishing an American flag and handgun
‘Get to the school, make America great again,’ he replied, parroting Donald Trump’s election slogan.
But when asked exactly how he planned to do that, the MAGA hat wearer appeared to have no plan of action.
The Trump supporter, who hand a handgun hanging off his waist, said he was there in ‘support.’
‘God bless y’all will go a long ways right now for a lot of people,’ he added, before fleeing the press.
‘Thank you, I’m gonna head this way. God bless y’all,’ he added.
Local news networks were near the scene of the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, which left ten dead on Friday, when he approached them
‘God bless y’all will go a long ways right now for a lot of people,’ he added, before fleeing the press
His appearance, moments after student Dimitrios ‘Dimitri’ Pagourtzis opened fire on his school, killing 10 and leaving another 10 injured, angered many including another a father of a student at the school.
The dad, who said he had a son at Santa Fe High School, branded the Trump fan an ‘idiot.’
‘I have guns…but this idiot is walking down here saying ‘Make America Great Again,’ that’s not what America needs. America needs prayers, we don’t need this crap,’ he said.
He’s walking into a crime scene with a pistol on him and I hate they get him… because it’s disgusting. This guy right here is sick.’
The MAGA wearer was also slammed on social media for the insensitivity of turning up at a mass shooting of children with a gun.
‘Only in America would someone show up flaunting an American flag & a gun just after kids were murdered *by guns*. In what world is this a solution? Is this what patriotism looks like? Is this what #MAGA looks like? The kids at Santa Fe High School deserve better. We all do,’ documentary maker Aaron DuRall tweeted.
Santa Fe High School in Texas was on lockdown after a shooter stormed into a class and killed 10 people Friday morning
A Pearland Police armored vehicle stands ready in front of Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe
A man hugs a sobbing woman outside the Alamo Gym where parents wait to reunite with their children following a shooting at Santa Fe High School
‘“Is this what patriotism looks like?” No my friend, this is what nationalism looks like with a red,white, and blue flag draped over it,’ another Twitter user wrote.
Another added: ‘Just what law enforcement needs, a guy showing up with a gun!??? How can sane people think this is okay??? #EnoughIsEnough but it’s NEVER enough, is it???!!!’
Today’s shooting left ten dead – the majority of whom were students. Ten others were wounded, among them a police officer who was reportedly shot in the shoulder.
It was reported by Chron.com, citing law reinforcement sources, that the gunman carried out the massacre with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol and a shotgun.
On his now-deleted Facebook page, Pagourtzis on April 30 shared a photo of a black T-shirt with the words ‘Born to Kill’ printed across the front. CW39 reported that witnesses saw the suspect wearing a ‘Born to Kill’ shirt and combat-style boots.
Law enforcement early in Texas identified the suspected Santa Fe school shooter on Friday afternoon as Dimitrios ‘Dimitri’ Pagourtzis, 17 (left and right). He is now in custody
Other photos shared on Pagourtzis’s page the same day in April depicted a dark-colored trenchcoat festooned with various insignia, including the Nazi Iron Cross, which the teen wrote stood for ‘bravery.’
Students at Santa Fe High told NBC News that Pagourtzis wore a trenchcoat to school every day.
The Santa Fe Independent School District said in a statement Friday that authorities are in the process of rendering the recovered explosive devices safe. There’s no indication how many devices have been found.
Dr. Safi Madain at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center says six of eight shooting victims have been treated and released. Madain says one patient remains in critical condition and the other is in fair condition. All appeared to be high school students with gunshot wounds.
Other victims have been treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. David Marshall, chief nursing officer, says one adult male is in critical condition at the hospital. He says that man was shot in the upper arm and is undergoing surgery.