Santa Fe High School shooting suspect's family releases statement

SANTA FE, Texas (FOX 26) - The unthinkable happened on Friday morning with students in their first period class at Santa Fe High School. A suspect who police have identified as Dimitrios Pagortzis, 17, fire gunshots on the inside that classroom.

“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,” says attorney Nicholas Poehl.

Poehl and fellow attorney Robert Barfield, who represent the Pagortzis family, spoke with the public after the suspect attended an arraignment hearing on Friday where he was granted no bond. Court documents show the high school junior told police that he purposely did not shoot students he liked so that he could have his story told. He also waived his rights to remain silent and is said to be cooperating with police.

FOX 26 News asked the defense attorneys if police would look into mental competency. 

“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,” adds Poehl. 

The teen's attorneys also spoke about his parents. 

“Very tough day for them," describes Poehl. "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 attorney for the Pagourtzis family has released the following statement on the 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 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.