The suspect in a US school shooting that left 10 people dead spared his friends so they could tell his story, police say.
Officers say 17-year-old Dmitrious Pagourtzis, who has been charged with capital murder , has admitted storming an art classroom and killing 10 people.
Charging documents released by police in Santa Fe, Texas, say he avoided students he liked in the rampage, so they would communicate his story afterwards.
The town is grieving for those killed in the attack as investigators try to identify a motive.
Victim Sabika Sheikh was a Pakistani exchange student
The victims of the attack – students aged between 15 and 17 and two teachers – include Sabika Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan, who had planned to return home during next month’s Eid celebration to visit her family.
Speaking to journalists from Karachi, her father described the tragedy as a “nightmare” and said he had kept trying to call and WhatsApp Sabika. “Never before had my daughter failed to reply,” he said.
A crowdfunder for the family of 15-year-old Angelique Ramirez, who was described as “a kind, compassionate and caring individual,” raised more than $13,000 in less than a day.
Campaigners are once again calling for changes to US gun laws
Many of those killed, including Aaron Kyle Mcleod and Jared Black, were in their favourite class, art, when the gunman opened fire on them.
Teachers Ann Perkins, 64, and Cynthia Tisdale, 63, were also killed.
The mother of victim Shana Fisher said her daughter had rejected the romantic advances of Pagourtzis in the weeks before the shooting.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder
The 17-year-old suspect had “continued to get more aggressive” after being turned down by Shana, who “finally stood up to him and embarrassed him”, she said.
Pagourtzis’ lawyer said he knew nothing of the accounts.
Student activists, many of whom mobilised after a mass shooting at Parkland school in Florida earlier in the year, responded to the latest attack by calling for further scrutiny on gun laws in the US.
Survivors of the shooting have revealed horrifying accounts of hiding with the bodies of their deceased classmates as the gunman went into four classrooms
Freshman Abel San Miguel said he watched his friend Chris Stone get killed by a gunshot, and said he survived by playing dead after being grazed across the shoulder by a bullet.
“We were on the ground, all piled up in random positions,” he said.
Another student, Breanna Quintanilla, said the suspect had walked into the classroom and pointed his gun at one student, saying “I’m going to kill you” before shooting them.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Pagourtzis had planned to commit suicide after the shooting but “didn’t have the courage”
