Flight carrying Sabika's body to arrive early Wednesday

KARACHI/TEXAS: The body of a Pakistani exchange student shot dead in Santa Fe on Friday will arrive here in the southern port city early Wednesday morning, Geo News reported.

The flight carrying the body of Sabika Sheikh, 17, from Texas was delayed by at least a day, having previously been scheduled to land in Karachi during the early hours of Tuesday morning between 4-6 AM.

It is now expected to arrive sometime around 3 AM Wednesday.

Further, speaking to Geo News, the teen's paternal uncle, Abdul Jaleel Sheikh, said that the funeral prayers will be held in Hakeem Saeed Ground. However, he did not confirm the time.

Sabika Sheikh will be buried in Azeempura Graveyard in the metropolis' Shah Faisal Colony.

Santa Fe high school shooting

On Friday, ten people, mostly students, were killed when a teenage classmate armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire in a Texas high school on Friday, the latest deadly school shooting to hit the United States after the Florida massacre earlier this year.

Among those killed was Sabika Sheikh, a Pakistani exchange student studying in the US facilitated by the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme.

The gunman — arrested on murder charges — was identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe High School. He was being held on capital murder charges, meaning that he could face the death penalty.

'Sabika was going to return home next month'

A resident of Karachi, Sabika — was the eldest of three sisters,  due to return to Pakistan next month.

"Sabika was going to come home on June 9," her grieving father told Geo News, adding that the family received the shocking news about her death after iftar on Friday night.

"It is still so very hard to believe that [Sabika is dead]," he said, adding that his daughter was "a very obedient child".

When asked what he would say about governmental action and terrorist acts, he said: "[Such] terrorist attacks can happen anywhere and they need to be condemned."

"She [was loved] and she loved everyone. She was all ready to return home," said Sabika's brother.

Funeral prayers offered in Houston 

On Sunday, the funeral prayers for Sabika were offered at a local mosque in Houston after Namaz-e-Zuhr.

The funeral service was scheduled by the Pakistani Consulate in Houston at Sugar Land's Masjid Sabireen.

Hundreds of people, including grief-stricken families of southwestern Texas, gathered to join the funeral, including officials of the Pakistani Consulate in Houston, local members of the United States Congress, members of the Pakistani diaspora and students of Santa Fe High School.