John Barnes, the officer identified as the school resource officer who was critically wounded in the Santa Fe High School mass shooting, remains in critical condition after facing off with Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the 17-year-old suspect accused in the shooting.
During the shooting, Barnes and another officer rushed into Santa Fe ISD High School, where they confronted Pagourtzis. Pagourtzis shot Barnes with a shotgun, badly wounding the 49-year-old school police officer, according to HPD Capt. Jim Dale.
“Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, a retired Houston police officer, was transported to the hospital, by Life Flight, with a gunshot wound to his upper arm. He has lost a lot of blood and is in critical condition, according to hospital staff. As of noon, he was still undergoing surgery. Doctors say they have no idea how long the surgery will take,” KVUE-TV reported.
FacebookJohn Barnes with his wife
According to Natalie Hee, of Fox26 Houston, on the afternoon of May 18, 2018, “Hospital officials say officer John Barnes still in operating room. Went in around 9:20am and had been there since. Sustained gunshot wound to elbow— possibly in artery & bone in arm. 3 other patients here, 4 total including officer.”
Barnes is a retired Houston police detective known for his tireless work on Internet crimes against children.
Another victim was shot in the head but survived the massacre, according to ABC 13 Eyewitness News.
Rome Shubert, 16, told Eyewitness News that he heard a loud bang in his art class and his ears started ringing. He says he jumped under a table for protection and heard another shot, saw students running and decided to run out of the back door of the art room.
He said he didn’t realize he was shot.
“It (the bullet) went in through the back of my head and came out,” Shubert said, according to Eyewitness News.
“I feel lucky to be here. I just wish this didn’t happen,” Shubert added. “This shouldn’t happen to anybody at that school. Nobody deserves that.”
I’m so greatful and blessed that god spared me life today. Today I was shot in the back of the head but i am completely okay and stable.
Barnes and Shubert were just two of many injured during the mass shooting. Ten people died in the attack when the shooter burst into an art class at the Texas school. The deceased victims include two teachers and eight students.
Here are the victims identified so far:
Cynthia Tisdale
Cynthia Tisdale was a substitute teacher at Santa Fe High School. Her brother-in-law, John Tisdale, confirmed her death in a Facebook post on Friday evening, saying she had been teaching an art class when the shooting began.
Tisdale’s husband told Eyewitness News Friday evening that “he killed her. She’s gone.”
“Cynthia planned on one day retiring and being a full-time grandmother. It will never happen,” he wrote. She is survived by her husband, Rev. William Recie Tisdale, and four children, he said.
Tisdale’s niece, Leia Olinde, 25, said Tisdale was like a mother to her and helped her shop for wedding dresses last year.
“She helped me put it on, she helped fix my hair,’’ Olinde said through tears, according to the Globe.
‘‘She was wonderful. She was just so loving,’’ Olinde said, according to the Boston Globe. ‘‘I’ve never met a woman who loved her family so much.
She said Tisdale was married to her husband for close to 40 years and that the two had three children and eight grandchildren. Tisdale’s house was the center for family gatherings, and she loved cooking Thanksgiving dinner and decorating her house, Olinde said, the Globe reports.
According to the Globe, Olinde’s fiance, Eric Sanders, said of Tisdale that ‘‘words don’t explain her lust for life and the joy she got from helping people.’’
Sabika Sheikh
Pakistani student #SabikaSheikh was amongst those killed in the #SantaFeHighShooting. She was on an exchange program and was supposed to return home to her family on Eid. 😞💔
Pakistani student Sabika Sheikh was amongst the victims of the shooting. She was on her exchange year in United States and was due to come back home to her family to celebrate Eid, an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
According to CBS News, The Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., confirmed that Sheikh was killed in the shooting. Sabika was an exchange student with YES, which is funded by the U.S. State Department. It provides scholarships for secondary school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend one academic year in the U.S.
Danyal Gilani, a former public affairs officer to Pakistan’s prime minister, tweeted a letter sent to students by the YES Pakistan program.
This is Sabika, she’s a friend of ours and she’s an exchange student from Pakistan. Today, she was killed in the school shooting of Santa Fe, Texas. I never took this personally but now I’m devastated and I think something should be done. This could be any of us.
“It is with greatest sadness in my heart that I need to inform you that one of our YES students, Sabika Sheikh of Pakistan, was killed today in the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas,” Program Manager Megan Lysaght wrote. “Please know that the YES program is devastated by this loss and we will remember Sabika and her families in our thoughts and prayers.”
Her death has drawn attention from the Muslim community, including Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American and organizer of the Women’s March, according to AZ Central.
Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has expressed heartfelt condolences for the victims of the tragic incident at the Santa Fe High School in Texas this morning 1/3
Among the victims was Sabika Sheikh, a Pakistani exchange student. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika’s family and friends”. Ambassador Chaudhry 2/3
Glenda Ann Perkins
Substitute teacher Ann Perkins was killed in the shooting. According to those who knew her, she was a beloved teacher and was well-loved in the community, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth reports.
TNT Dance Xplosion, a gymnastics club in Santa Fe that Perkins’ daughter once belonged to, confirmed Perkins’ death Friday afternoon on its Facebook page.
“She was an amazing mom and an adored substitute who was loved by all,” the Facebook post said.
On Twitter, several Santa Fe students grieved Perkins’ passing, calling her “the sweetest lady” and a hero.
Shana Fisher
My niece Shana Fisher still hasn’t been found. She was in the art room and some classmates have said she was shot in the leg. Still no confirmation on where she is. Please keep praying!
Kim Maples-Gonzales posted on Facebook that her stepdaughter Shana Fisher was killed in the shooting.
Shana Fisher’s aunt Candi Thurman confirmed on Twitter her niece didn’t survive the shooting. In a tweet earlier Friday, Thurman ― also a student at the school ― said Fisher was in an art class when the gunman opened fire, shooting her in the leg.
“Its hard to believe one of the sweetest kids you would ever meet had a punk kill her,” Tammy Fisher Whalen, who also identifies as Fisher’s aunt on Facebook, wrote in a post. “Shana i love you sweet girl ..im sorry we couldnt help you.”
Christian Riley Garcia
A woman who listed her name as AJ and said she is Christian “Riley” Garcia’s cousin, confirmed the 15-year-old’s death Friday night on Twitter.
“Today I learned about the shooting and come to find out my lil cousin was there. RIP BABY BOY I LOVE YOU! #SantaFeHighSchool,” AJ posted.
Crosby Church posted a heartfelt tribute to Garcia, with a picture of the 15-year-old just days before the shooting.
“The violence at Santa Fe High, hit us all, but Crosby Church unites together in prayer for all the families affected and we mourn the loss of our own student Christian Riley Garcia 15 years old,” the post reads. “He has grown up in our church, I baptized him many yrs ago. I just left his wonderful, loving family and extended all of the prayers and love for them from our Church. I don’t know exactly how, but I know together in Christ we can make it.”
Angelique Ramirez
Angelique Ramirez’s aunt, Sylvia Prichett, confirmed Friday night in a Facebook post that her niece was killed during the shooting.
Earlier in the day, Prichett posted a plea for help finding Ramirez.
“The school nor police can tell us where she is. All we got info on is that she was shot in the leg. Cannot find her at any local hospital,” the post said.
At about 5 p.m., Prichett updated the post to say her niece did not survive.
“My family and I appreciate all the calls, text and prayers but as you can imagine I just can’t reply to everyone right now. Please keep all the families in your thoughts, and hug your children tightly,” the post said.
Araceli Ramirez, who identified Angelique as her “baby sister” in a Facebook post, wrote: “You deserved so much, you had so much planned for yourself and they took that away from you.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help support Ramirez’s family.
“No mother deserves to lose her child. No one ever deserves to undergo a tragedy such as this!”
Chris Stone
Chris Stone, 17, was missing Friday while his friends and family frantically called him and checked local hospitals to see if he was among the injured. Multiple outlets confirmed his death on Friday evening.
ABC 13 in Houston confirmed his death just after 4 p.m. Stone’s father appeared on the TV station earlier in the day and said he could not find his son.
“I know it happened in the art room and that’s where Chris was,” his father said.
Photos the teen’s family released showed him smiling as he got ready for the high school prom just a week before he was killed.
Kim Jessica Vaughan
Kim Jessica Vaughan was in first-period art class at Santa Fe High School on Friday.
“There was a shooter. I have not found her. Pass this along,” her mother, Rhonda Hart posted at about 2 p.m. to Facebook, along with three pictures of her daughter.
At about 4:30 p.m., Jennifer Morey Ryden, who said she was with Hart while she was searching for her daughter, later confirmed to ABC News that she had died.
“She has been found. She is now in heaven,” Ryden posted.
Later in the day, Hart urged her Facebook friends to contact lawmakers in a post that included a hashtag of her daughter’s name.
“Folks―call your damn senators. Call your congressmen,” Hart wrote. “We need GUN CONTROL. WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR KIDS.”
Aaron Kyle McLeod
The family of Kyle McLeod, a student at Santa Fe High School, confirmed to ABC News that the young man was killed during the shooting.
Mary Baker, who said she is Kyle’s great-aunt, posted that he died in the shooting.
A Facebook tribute to McLeod mentions that he recently got his drivers permit and was excited to begin driving for the first time.
“His desire to drive was ended by another person’s desire to use a shotgun on a human being for the first time,” the post read.
Jared Black
Jared Black, who had just turned 17, was killed at #SantaFeHighSchool. He was supposed to have his birthday party today. Here’s a @gofundme to help some of his family get to Texas:
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Heavy is committed to honoring every victim of the Santa Fe shooting. This story will be updated as more details emerge.