Galveston County judge talks Santa Fe shooting suspect
Texas school shooting suspect is charged with capital murder after 10 people are killed at Santa Fe High School.
The family of the suspect who authorities say opened fire at a Texas high school Friday, killing 10 people and injuring 13 more, is "saddened and dismayed" by the killings, according to a statement released Saturday.
"We share the public's hunger for answers as to why this happened," the statement continues, "and will await the outcome of the investigation before speaking about these events."
"We share the public's hunger for answers as to why this happened and will await the outcome of the investigation before speaking about these events."
The suspect, identified as Dmitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been charged with capital murder in the deaths of two teachers and eight students. The FBI said Saturday that 13 other people were injured in the attack, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Nicholas Poehl, the suspect's attorney, said his client is speaking and cooperating with authorities, the Chronicle reported.
“Obviously this is a tough situation,” Poehl said. “He’s in difficult circumstances. He’s behaving consistently with that.”
“This is a very young kid, he’s in very trying circumstances to say the least, saying he’s doing well surely wouldn’t be accurate right now, but there is a long way to go,” Poehl told Fox 26 Houston.
He and attorney Robert Barfield both represent the Pagourtzis family, the station reported.
Poehl said “the family is stunned,” and barely beginning to wrap their minds around what happened, the Chronicle reported.
“Very tough day for them," Poehl told Fox 26. "I think every parent probably instinctively knows they don’t know everything about their kid, but when you find out something like this today, it’s extremely hard. For those out there that are watching, try to remember these people are victims too. They didn’t know, they didn’t expect and they surely couldn’t predict, so prayers to everyone in this whole mess.”
The attorneys told the Chronicle that they will “likely request a competency and sanity exam.”
“In a case like this, of course, you can’t do this and not have something going on, but you know we have got a lot of work to do before we are even ready to really speak intelligently about that,” Poehl told Fox 26.
The attorneys also spoke with the public after the suspect attended an arraignment hearing Friday where he was not granted bond, the report said.
They released the following statement on the Pagourtzis family’s behalf.
"We are saddened and dismayed by yesterday's events at Santa Fe High School. We extend our most heartfelt prayers and condolences to all of the victims. We also wish to thank all the first responders from all over Texas that assisted in rendering aid and support."
"We are saddened and dismayed by yesterday's events at Santa Fe High School. We extend our most heartfelt prayers and condolences to all of the victims. We also wish to thank all the first responders from all over Texas that assisted in rendering aid and support.
"We are as shocked and confused as anyone else by these events that occurred. 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. While we remain mostly in the dark about the specifics of yesterday's tragedy, what we have learned from media reports seems incompatible with the boy we love.
"We share the public's hunger for answers as to why this happened, and will await the outcome of the investigation before speaking about these events. We have been and will continue to cooperate with the authorities conducting the investigation, and ask for the public's patience while it moves forward.
"We ask the public to please extend privacy, both to the victims and to our own family, as all of us try process these events, and begin the healing process."
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