Grand jury indicts 17-year-old in Santa Fe school shooting
A Texas grand jury on Thursday indicted a 17-year-old student accused of fatally shooting 10 people in May at Santa Fe High School.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis was formally indicted on charges that include capital murder of multiple persons. Under Texas law, capital murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with a parole option for those younger than 18.
He also was indicted on a count of aggravated assault of a public servant for the shooting of a school police officer, who survived.
Pagourtzis is being held at the Galveston County Jail without bond. A trial date has not been set.
Investigators have said Pagourtzis admitted going on a shooting rampage at Santa Fe High that killed eight students and two teachers. Authorities said the teen used his father’s pistol and shotgun to burst into the school’s art classroom and begin shooting.
Witnesses said the gunfire went on for 10 to 15 minutes, and police said Pagourtzis engaged in a prolonged firefight with officers before finally surrendering. Gov. Greg Abbott has said Pagourtzis intended to kill himself but gave up.
The rampage was the nation’s deadliest since the mass shooting at a Florida high school in February that gave rise to a gun-control campaign by teens.
Six people, including three children, were injured Friday in a fiery crash involving multiple vehicles on Interstate 35 in South Austin, Austin-Travis County EMS officials said.
Medics said they responded at noon to the collision in the southbound lanes of the 4700 block of I-35 South, between Texas 71 and Stassney Lane.
EMS reported that a fire that ignited in one of the vehicles was extinguished and that six people were treated.
A girl with serious injuries and two boys with potentially serious injuries were taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center, EMS officials said.
Two women also were hospitalized. One was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center and the other went to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center with injuries not expected to be life-threatening, officials said.
The southbound lanes south of the Ben White Boulevard interchange were closed because of the crash, causing massive delays. The lanes were reopened around 1:45 p.m.
Two people were taken to the hospital after a vehicle and a dump truck collided in Southeast Austin early Friday, Austin-Travis County EMS officials said.
Medics responded to the intersection of McKinney Falls Parkway and William Cannon Drive near McKinney Falls State Park around 6:30 a.m., EMS officials said.
A woman and man, both described as in their 50s, were both taken to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center with potentially serious injuries after the woman was pulled from inside one of the wrecked vehicles, EMS officials said.
Llano County sheriff ’s deputies found a human skull on the edge of Lake Buchanan on Wednesday.
Deputies responded to a call about the skull around 8:08 p.m. near the 600 Block of Pebble Drive.
Officials recovered the skull and secured the area until daylight. The Texas Rangers and Texas Department of Public Safety dive team also assisted with the search for additional evidence.
Investigators have interviewed several residents in the area, officials said. No additional information was available Friday. A former treasurer of the Austin Polish Society confessed to writing $72,800 worth of checks through the nonprofit’s bank account, according to an arrest affidavit.
Karolina Camara, 41, faces a charge of theft, a third-degree felony, after admitting to writing 54 checks for herself and one for her husband, the affidavit says. She was booked in Williamson County jail Aug. 3 and is now out on bond, according to jail records.
The affidavit says Camara, who lives in a portion of Austin within Williamson County, had kept the Polish Society’s checkbook at her home while serving as its treasurer. In May, the affidavit says, Camara told the Polish Society board president she had spent funds from the nonprofit on herself.
The affidavit says Camara had written checks from December 2014 to April without any consent from the nonprofit. She also admitted to a county official she wrote the checks for personal use, the affidavit says. If found guilty, Camara could face as many as 10 years in prison.