Who is Dimitrios Pagourtzis, teen accused in Santa Fe shooting?

SANTA FE, Texas – According to Galveston County prosecutors, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, is charged with capital murder and aggravated assault of a peace officer in connection with the Santa Fe school shooting. Law enforcement sources told KPRC he is a student of Santa Fe High School.

Was he active on social media?

Facebook and Instagram accounts that police believe belong to Pagourtzis have now been deleted. However, images posted on the now-deleted Facebook account show a picture of a black T-shirt with the words "BORN TO KILL" written on the front. There is also a picture of a black trench coat with several pins bearing symbols associated with communism, Kamikaze pilots, two fictional demonic deities and a German Iron Cross.

An Instagram account that police believe belongs to Pagourtzis had just three posts: One showed a video game with a rifle fitted with a scope, another showed a dead frog and the third was a picture of a pistol, knife and tactical flashlight. None of those posts contain any statements regarding carrying out acts of violence.

What about his school life?

Online records showed archived newspaper articles mentioning Pagourtzis was a member of the honor roll in sixth and seventh grades. A brief article posted to the school district’s website mentioned Pagourtzis was a defensive tackle for the junior varsity football team in 2016.

What are his peers saying?

Tristen Patterson, a 16-year-old junior at Sante Fe, considered Pagourtzis a friend. He said Pagourtzis was into video games that simulated war, and that he sometimes talked about guns -- firearms that he liked or wanted to get. "But he never talked about killing people or anything like that," Patterson said.

He said Pagourtzis didn't show signs of being bullied but also rarely talked about himself. In one of their classes, Pagourtzis would sometimes enter the room "acting a little bit down or sad. A little bit sluggish," Patterson said.

"But he never talked about why," he said.

Michael Farina, 17, said he grew up with Pagourtzis and would play video games with him. He said Pagourtzis knew a lot about guns and remembered him asking which one he should get when he was older.

"I'm kind of dumbfounded. We didn't get any warning," Farina said.

He said a black trench coat and black boots was Pagourtzis's regular outfit to school. "I guess you could say it was his kind of style," Farina said. He said he wasn't someone who got into trouble and described him as a "run of the mill" student.

Church speaks out

Father Stelios Sitaras of Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Galveston, Texas, said he met Pagourtzis when the young man danced with a group as part of an annual festival in October. He said the Pagourtzises are members of a nearby parish.

Sitaras said he had never heard of the teen being in any sort of trouble.

"He is a quiet boy," the priest said. "You would never think he would do anything like this."


About the Author:

Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.”