'He's a victim': Father of alleged Santa Fe High School shooter says his son is 'not a criminal'

Seventeen-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis is being held in jail on capital murder charges after allegedly killing 10 people in a school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas Friday, but his father told a TV station in Greece that his son is a victim, not a criminal — not that he denies his son fatally shot eight students and two teachers.

“My son, to me, is not a criminal, he’s a victim.” Father of Santa Fe High School shooting suspect says he believes his son lashed out because he was bullied. https://t.co/25htvD2t1Q

— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) May 22, 2018

The Associated Press reports that Antonios Pagourtzis shared his side of the story with Greece’s Antenna TV, alleging that his son was bullied:

The suspect’s attorney, Nicholas Poehl, has said he is investigating whether his client endured any “teacher-on-student” bullying after reading reports of the teen being mistreated by football coaches. The school district issued a statement saying it investigated the accusations and “confirmed that these reports were untrue.”

The elder Pagourtzis said his son took a legally owned shotgun and handgun from his closet before leaving for school that day. The teen didn’t own firearms of his own, he said.

“My son, to me, is not a criminal, he’s a victim,” he said. “The kid didn’t own guns, I owned guns.”

…

He said his son had told him he had acted on his own, and had spared “the kids who were the good kids so they can tell his story.”

The shooting suspect’s father isn’t garnering much sympathy.

Unbelievable. https://t.co/7fXd2hBBsW

— Cha Của Casimir (@enkymion) May 22, 2018

"My son killed people in cold blood, but he's not a criminal" is some serious spin https://t.co/UxggzXbibC

— Trevor Walker (@twalker201) May 22, 2018

Your son is a cold blooded murderer plain and simple. If you believe that your son was a victim instead of a perpetrator, you failed him as a father and should probably be on a watchlist of some kind or investigated at the very least. https://t.co/meKQVcLGn7

— world's okayest zenyatta main (@dinobuttz) May 22, 2018

sorry but no. posting articles like this even hinting at such a narrative is irresponsible and dangerous. https://t.co/OcBIqkfJ4B

— Luke Brown (@MLukeBrown) May 22, 2018

It's great seeing the media learn zero lessons about covering mass shootings time and time again. https://t.co/pL7Sm7hAmW

— sources say, (@RileyMiner) May 22, 2018

Hey, fun idea: stop interviewing the friends and relatives of the shooter when these things happen. https://t.co/UN3cQgggen

— M.R. Bowers (@mrbowers) May 22, 2018

Everyone is apparently a victim. I was bullied growing up, I've been rejected by numerous women. I could never fathom doing this, maybe it's because I learned right from wrong or have a good set of morals? You know things parents teach you. https://t.co/W6BzvXj98H

— I Am Ferocity (@xTzFerocity) May 22, 2018

PARENTS ARE THE PROBLEM. You want to stop shootings? STOP RAISING MURDERERS.

Your son may have been victim of crime or abuse, but MURDERING PEOPLE makes him a criminal. Zero sympathy. Control your reactions. That evil person you raised decided to pull that trigger. STFU https://t.co/Ngj1yqLTRc

— ??????? ????? (@PH32375) May 22, 2018

raise your hand if you were bullied and never thought shooting up you school was an option https://t.co/WAI681syle

— Han (@tropicalhannah) May 22, 2018

I'm gonna go ahead and say that murder is an extreme form of bullying. https://t.co/eQ3sZTE8TR

— Geraldine (@everywhereist) May 22, 2018

My daughter was relentlessly bullied for 8 years and shockingly enough, she never thought the answer was to shoot & kill a bunch of people. Of course, she had actual parental support and guidance, so there's that. https://t.co/Pz6MQo8X05

— MicheleGolfsALot (@ForeverBigBlue) May 22, 2018

I was bullied as a kid, horribly so, for over 6 years, but the idea of killing those that made school life torture would not even come close to crossing my mind. https://t.co/p0460ZYEcc

— Chris Wood (@ChesnoidGaming) May 22, 2018

I was bullied as a kid. I never took my dad's gun to school to murder my classmates. I was a victim. This kid is a murderer. https://t.co/IFgOmgV43u

— Alie Caldwell (@alie_astrocyte) May 22, 2018

Yeah he only stalked a girl for four months, and then after being rejected repeatedly, he turned into a raging, cold-blooded murderer. No criminal activity here. https://t.co/z1JM5yJgJm

— Saraah ♤ (@BrownSugaSaraah) May 22, 2018

So a man who won't accept what's in front of him somehow produces a son who stalks a young woman for months before killing her because he can't accept she isn't interested in him. https://t.co/Tg5PBDN0Ed

— Quinn Cummings (@quinncy) May 22, 2018

We can't let this narrative prevail. While this young man could very well have been bullied, the fact is, he knew where his father's guns were stored, he accessed them, and knowingly murdered 10 people. https://t.co/6SFeaOu5mN

— marisa kabas (@MarisaKabas) May 22, 2018

Lashed out?? He murdered people. Lashing out is keying somebody's car. Egging their house. Punching them in the face even. Not killing people. This is disgusting. A toxic and entitled defense for his toxic and entitled kid. https://t.co/pAuRDY1zqm

— Maya (@mayak46) May 22, 2018

F%ck this guy and f%ck his murdering son https://t.co/ScJDBWJriA

— Derek Rudler (@DerekRudler) May 22, 2018

Nope. This man’s child is absolutely a criminal. And hey, maybe he should be considered a criminal too, since he obviously left his guns where his child could get at them and become a criminal by killing ten people. https://t.co/5orfGTe95D

— Pablo Defendini (@pablod) May 22, 2018

Yeah your son was a victim i agree. But not of bullying, rather of your disinterest in his activities. https://t.co/TfACsq4PEz

— Suzannah (@dobermanmamma) May 22, 2018

Sounds like an inability to take responsibility or distinguish right from wrong is either inherited or learned in this family https://t.co/8wbwvzA5HA

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) May 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/999011625440108547

The father needs to shut up. https://t.co/LOcxLsrPUR

— Elizabeth Rogers (@ahumorlessfem) May 22, 2018

Your son is a rotten monster, you're a terrible parent, and you should be arrested for letting a minor take your loaded guns. https://t.co/oDZJ1xjqTB

— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) May 22, 2018

Yes. What an acceptable way to lash out. Did he learn his coping skills from the same person who is making excuses for a murderer? https://t.co/tLdzLaR6AT

— Greg Dutra (@DutraWeather) May 22, 2018

Your son, to me, is responsible for the murderous actions he took. And you, as a father, are responsible for not securing your weapons. #personalaccountability #GunSafety https://t.co/MwYPWKpBwE

— kathleen (@baad_kittee) May 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/themattmcd/status/998998306226241536

He made pipe bombs.

That's not being a victim, that's being a premeditated murderer. https://t.co/9NbJKefQgK

— Funktoe (@funktoe) May 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/inkthepage/status/998999190402490368

The words of a man clearly still in the denial stage of his reckoning with what happened, but including his final suggestion that the killer spared "the good kids" w no added context about the victims is a journalistic cruelty to their families. https://t.co/Al0sI2cWDP

— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) May 22, 2018

Unbelievable. https://t.co/DZjahKFFBf

— Mario Castro (@Maquario) May 22, 2018

Related:

WE'VE FOUND IT! USA Today wins the 'hottest f*cking take of all time' on 'less-lethal' guns used in Santa Fe shooting https://t.co/sd83OU1Gqu

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 19, 2018