What We Know About Texas School Shooting Suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis

On Friday afternoon, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School near Houston, TX.

Pagourtzis, 17, is a student at the high school. At a press conference on Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Pagourtzis had no criminal record. Speaking with the New York Times, one of his former teachers described him as “quiet, but he wasn’t quiet in a creepy way.”

This would appear to be contradicted by other evidence, though. In addition to a journal which law enforcement officials believe included warnings about a possible shooting, the Times and CNN reported that Pagourtzis’ Facebook page contained multiple violent references, including a photograph of a carefully laid out t-shirt reading “Born to Kill.” He also allegedly posted photographs of a long coat festooned with a variety of political buttons and pins, including a Nazi iron cross.

On the school’s website, Pagourtzis is listed as having played JV football during the 2016 school year as a defensive tackle, and is credited as having “played a huge role” in a victory over rivals Ball High. He also is listed as having danced in a troupe belonging to Galveston’s Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church.

According to CNN, Pagourtzis claimed on Facebook to be enlisting with the Marine Corps in the coming year, although a Marine Corps representative told the network they had no record of his paperwork at any of their recruiting stations.

It is unclear exactly how Pagourtzis acquired the weapons used in the shooting. According to Abbott, he was armed with a shotgun and a .38 caliber pistol, both belonging to his father. Abbott added that it’s unknown whether Pagourtzis’ father was aware his son had taken the guns. In addition to the firearms, Pagourtzis also allegedly brought several explosive devices with him to the school, including a Molotov cocktail.

Abbott claimed that Pagourtzis’ pre-shooting writings indicated that he was planning on committing suicide following the attack. But he said that when Pagourtzis turned himself in to police, he claimed he’d been too afraid to follow through with his plans.

This story is developing and will be updated as new information becomes available.