The father of the alleged Santa Fe High School shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, told a news outlet in Greece that his son was a victim of bullying, according to the Associated Press. “Something must have happened now, this last week,” Antonios Pagourtzis said.
Yes, something clearly happened.
‘My son, to me, is not a criminal, he’s a victim. The kid didn’t own guns, I owned guns,’ he said
Unfortunately Mr. Pagourtzis chose to store his guns in a closet where his son and his siblings had easy access. That’s how his son was able to grab a shotgun and a .38 revolver and go on a murder spree at Santa Fe High School last week, killing ten and injuring ten more.
Pagourtzis said his son never displayed any signs that he would be capable of such violence, explaining that he didn’t fight with others, didn’t drink alcohol and seemed to enjoy healthy pursuits such as working out.
‘He pulled the trigger but he is not this person,’ he said.
There was obviously much more going on in his son’s life that Mr. Pagourtzis is aware of. Or wants to admit.
‘It is like we see in the movies when someone gets into his body and does things that are not done. It’s not possible in one day for the child to have changed so much.’
On that last point, Pagourtzis probably won’t get many arguments. Whatever it was that prompted his son to murder his classmates and teachers isn’t something that “just happened.” It must have been brewing for months, if not longer.
‘I have guns, I am a hunter and had a farm which I rented in the 1980s,’ he said. ‘The guns in my house are legal and declared.
All well and good. If only they had been safely stored.