Authorities: Suspect described planning attack in private journals
SANTA FE, Texas — The Texas student charged in the school shooting at Santa Fe High School described planning the attack in private journals, including a plan to kill himself, posted an image on Facebook of a “Born to Kill” shirt and used his father’s shotgun and pistol in the rampage that left 10 dead and 10 wounded, authorities said Friday.
Amotive wasn’t immediately clear, but Gov. Greg Abbott said Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, wrote about planning the attack in journals on his computer and in his cellphone that police obtained. That was inconsistent with the portrait painted by his friends— a reserved young man, an athlete who had discussed wanting to own guns but who was said not to have given warning signs of impending violence.
Classmates described Pagourtzis as quiet, an avid video game player who routinely wore a black trench coat and black boots to class. He had played football on the school’s junior varsity squad and danced as part of a church group. Those who know him expressed shock he might be involved in the killings.
In addition to Pagourtzis, a second person was detained in relation to the attack. That person was not identified.
Tristen Patterson, a 16- year- old junior at Sante Fe, considered Pagourtzis a friend. He said Pagourtzis was into video games that simulated war, and that he sometimes talked about guns— firearms that he liked orwanted to get. “But he never talked about killing people or anything like that,” Patterson said.
He said Pagourtzis didn’t show signs of being bullied but also rarely talked about himself. In one of their classes, Pagourtziswould sometimes enter the room “acting a little bit down or sad. A little bit sluggish,” Patterson said.
Michael Farina, 17, said he grew up with Pagourtzis andwould play video games with him. He said Pagourtzis knew a lot about guns and remembered him asking which one he should get when he was older.
“I’m kind of dumbfounded. We didn’t get any warning,” Farina said.