The Philippines expressed on Saturday its sympathies to the United States after at least 10 persons died and several others were wounded in a shooting incident in a school in Texas on Friday.

“We join the American people in grieving over the loss of so many young innocent lives in the school tragedy in Sante Fe, Texas,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement from Honolulu where he is on an official visit.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims,” said Cayetano who also offered prayers for the speedy recovery of the 10 other persons who were wounded in the incident.

Consul General Adelio Angelito S. Cruz of the Philippine Consulate General said no Filipinos were among the casualties in the latest school shooting that took place early Friday morning at the Santa Fe High School located 35 miles southeast of Houston.

As soon as the incident was reported, Cruz said the Consulate General coordinated with members of the Filipino Community leaders to determine if there were any casualties among the approximately 1,994 Filipinos in members in Galveston County where Santa Fe is located.

Cruz said the shooting was carried out by a 17-year-old student who barged into a classroom and started shooting fellow students with a shotgun and a revolver. The shooter is now in police custody. DMS