Suspect in Texas school shooting confesses, authorities say

pulse

May 19, 2018 10:48 PM

SANTA FE, Texas — A 17-year-old student confessed to opening fire at his Texas high school Friday, killing 10 people, and told investigators after a protracted gunbattle that he had spared certain students “so he could have his story told,” authorities said.

A Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigator wrote in an affidavit that the student, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, had waived his right to remain silent and had given “a statement admitting to shooting multiple people” at Santa Fe High School.

The investigator, identified only as J. Roy, also wrote that Pagourtzis had said he did not shoot students he liked.

Before his arrest, Pagourtzis exchanged gunfire with police officers for about 15 minutes and abandoned what he said had been his intention to take his own life.

“He decided to chicken out of that and came out with his hands up,” county Judge Mark Henry, the top elected official for Galveston County, said in an interview Saturday. “The investigator said there were a lot of shell casings from both sides.”

Many Santa Fe students were being allowed to return to the campus Saturday afternoon, each escorted by a police officer, to retrieve the belongings they left when they were evacuated.

“This is a tough time,” said Rep. Randy Weber, the Republican who represents this rural community of about 13,000 people in Congress. “We’ve got a hurting community.”

Gov. Greg Abbott said after the attack that any “red-flag warnings were either nonexistent or very imperceptible,” but he said investigators had quickly recovered information from Pagourtzis’ computer and cellphone that suggested he wanted to carry out the shooting and to kill himself afterward.

Pagourtzis was being held without bond Saturday, on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant. Investigators believe Pagourtzis took a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver from his father to use in the attack. Henry said that two possible improvised explosive devices that Pagourtzis had brought to the school had turned out to be harmless.

The University of Texas Medical Branch, which treated some of the injured, said Saturday that one patient — a police officer — was in critical condition. The FBI increased the number of injured, to 13 from 10.

The school district said all its schools would be closed Monday and Tuesday and it would offer counseling.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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