Family, friends recall shooting victims’ optimism and humor

SANTA FE, Texas — Hardworking. Funny. Loving.

Grieving family and friends recalled the endearing qualities of some of the 10 victims in Friday’s mass shooting at Santa Fe High School. The attack, 30 miles southeast of Houston, also injured 13 others.

A 17-year-old student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, is being held on murder charges.

Eight of the 10 victims were students: Jared Black, Shana Fisher, Christian Riley Garcia, Aaron McLeod, Angelique Ramirez, Sabika Sheikh, Christopher Jake Stone and Kimberly Vaughan. The other two, Glenda Perkins and Cynthia Tisdale, were teachers.

About the victims:

His birthday was Wednesday and he was looking forward to a party this weekend at his family’s just-purchased swimming pool. An older brother, Anthony, of Odessa, was planning to visit with his wife and kids. Jared also had a younger brother, Houston, 13. His stepfather, Travis Stanich, told the Houston Chronicle that Black loved art, video games, sci-fi, wrestling and wolves.

Shana’s mother, Sadie Rodriguez, described her daughter as “shy and sweet” with a passion for video games. Rodriguez believes her daughter was targeted by Pagourtzi after she repeatedly rejected his advances. McLeod, a freshman, went by his middle name Kyle. Close friend Kali Reeves said Kyle could always be counted on to make light of any situation, adding she wouldn’t have been surprised if he “made a joke Members attend service at Arcadia First Baptist Church near Santa Fe, where Gov. Greg Abbott hugged mourners. about getting shot” if he were alive. Brad Drake, senior pastor at Dayspring Church, described Ramirez as “a sweet young lady, who had a style all of her own.” He said she “almost always had a new hairstyle.”

Stone was among a group of students who blocked the door to try to prevent the gunman from entering their art classroom. But the shooter fired his shotgun through the door, striking Stone in the chest. Stone was outgoing, “really funny” and had a lot of friends, said Branden Auzston, a junior at Santa Fe High.

Abdul Aziz Sheikh said his daughter, an exchange student, was an accomplished teen who aspired to work in civil service, hoping one day to join Pakistan’s Foreign Office. “One should not lose his heart by such kind of incidents,” he said. “One should not stop going for education to the U.S. or U.K., or China, or anywhere. One must go for education undeterred. But controlling such incidents is the responsibility of the respective governments.”

The substitute teacher was married for close to 40 years and had three children and eight grandchildren. Leia Olinde said Tisdale, her aunt, was like a mother to her and helped her shop for wedding dresses last year. “She helped me put it on, she helped fix my hair,” Olinde said through tears. “She was wonderful. She was just so loving,” Olinde, 25. “I’ve never met a woman who loved her family so much.”

Also Sunday, the National Rifle Association’s incoming president blamed the deadly school shooting in Santa Fe on youngsters “steeped in a culture of violence.”

Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North told “Fox News Sunday” that authorities are trying “like the dickens” to treat symptoms instead of going after the disease. He said the disease isn’t the Second Amendment. He said that depriving lawabiding citizens of their constitutional right to have a firearm won’t stop shootings like the one that happened Friday.

North identified the “disease” as youngsters growing up in a culture where violence is commonplace. He listed such things as violent movies and TV shows and drug use, specifically Ritalin, which is used to treat hyperactivity disorder.

Investigators haven’t linked Pagourtzis to Ritalin or other drugs.