School gunman shot girl who rejected him

Student charged with 10 murders had been publicly embarrassed by one of his victims before massacre

THE Texas high-school gunman was rejected by a 16-year-old girl a week before she became one of his victims, according to her grieving mother.

Sadie Rodriguez said her daughter, Shana Fisher, had been pursued for four months by Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the 17-year-old who opened fire at Santa Fe High School, near Houston, last Friday. One week ago she publicly rejected him in front of classmates after “four months of problems with this boy”, Ms Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times.

She described how Pagourtzis continued to get more aggressive until Shana finally stood up to him and embarrassed him in class.

“He kept making advances on her and she repeatedly told him no,” said Ms Rodriguez. “A week later he opens fire on everyone he didn’t like. Shana being the first one.”

The mother of a survivor revealed that Pagourtzis, who killed 10 and injured 13 more, taunted his victims yelling “woo hoo” and “are you dead?” as he took aim in an art classroom at just after 8am.

Writing an open letter on Facebook, Deedra Van Ness, whose daughter Isabelle survived the massacre, detailed the teenager’s experience as she cowered from the gunman. She was covered in dust from bullets hitting the classroom walls and was surrounded by the dead bodies of her classmates.

Ms Van Ness wrote: “They hear the gunman in the classroom next door yelling ‘woo hoo!’ and firing more shots. The gunman then comes back into their room and they hear him saying ‘are you dead?’. Then more shots are fired. By this time, cell phones all over the classroom are ringing and he’s taunting the kids in the closet asking them ‘do you think it’s for you?’ and ‘do you want to come answer it?’. And then he proceeds to fire more bullets into the closet and tries to get in.”

Pagourtzis was yesterday in solitary confinement after being charged with the murder of eight students and two teachers. Authorities said he admitted “shooting multiple people”. He allegedly used a shotgun and revolver that were held legally by his father, Antonios. In a statement, his family said they were “saddened and dismayed” and extended their “heartfelt prayers and condolences” to all of the victims.

“We are gratified by the public comments made by other Santa Fe High School students that show Dimitri as we know him: a smart, quiet, sweet boy,” the family said. “What we have learned from media reports seems incompatible with the boy we love.”

As the debate over gun control was re-ignited. Oliver North, the incoming president of the National Rifle Association, blamed school shootings on the “culture of violence” and prescription drugs. Speaking on the Fox News channel, he said: “The disease in this case isn’t the Second Amendment. The disease is youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence. They’ve been drugged in many cases. Many of these young boys have been on Ritalin [a commonly prescribed drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] since they were in kindergarten.”

Mark Kelly, the gun control advocate whose wife, Gabby Giffords, was shot and badly injured in 2011, said: “We should figure out a way to prevent people coming in the door with a firearm.”