Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the 17-year-old male student suspect in the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Southern Texas Friday, planned to commit suicide following this morning’s shooting, but could not find the “courage” to do it, according to the governor of Texas.
“We also know information already that the shooter has information contained in journals, on his computer, and his cell phone that he said that not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting,” Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, said during a press conference Friday afternoon.
“As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didn’t have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier,” Abbott added.
The suspect is currently at the Santa Fe Police Department. He was taken into custody following the attack, which occurred around 7:45 a.m. local time Friday. A second suspect was detained.
Pagourtzis was identified Friday afternoon and is an 11th grade student at the high school. Prior to the shooting, his Facebook page contained a photo of him wearing a “Born to Kill” T-shirt.
Abbott said the boy is believed to have used his father’s firearms to carry out the mass murder.
“The weapons used in this attack, there are two weapons. One was a shotgun and the other is a .38 revolver. Neither of these weapons were owned or legally possessed by the shooter. It is my information that both of these weapons were obtained by the shooter from his father. It’s my information at the time that the father legally owned these weapons,” Abbott said. “I have no information if the father was aware the son had taken these weapons from the father.”
Police and federal agents continue to investigate the scene of the crime as well a mobile home where the suspect lived.
“The reason why there is some slowness in being able to undertake these searches is because of the potential for explosive devices to be found in these residences. They want to make sure they’re able to enter them without anybody being harmed,” Abbott said.
“One reason why there is concern about explosive devices is that various different kinds of explosive devices have already been detected. One was a CO-2 device. Another was a Molotov cocktail and there are various other types of explosive devices that have been identified both in a home as well as in a vehicle,” added Abbott, who said police are searching for the suspect’s vehicle.
Police have taken in two other people of interest, who are being questioned.
