Family members of those killed during the Santa Fe High School mass shooting in 2018 are expressing anger, shock and resolve after receiving a response letter from the US Department of Justice.
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The DOJ’s response was an answer to a request for an independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the mass shooting. Families of those killed and survivors have long asked for an independent investigation of what led up to the shooting and an analysis of the police response.
“Not [an investigation] into the criminal actions of the individual, but into the actions of those responsible for keeping the staff and the children safe,” said retired U.S. Secret Service agent Mike Matranga. “Quite frankly, six years is long enough for these people to be suffering without any answers.”
Matranga is the former head of safety and security for Texas City ISD and now runs M6 Global Defense, which specializes in school security. Matranga spearheaded the families’ request for a third-party independent investigation by writing a detailed letter to the DOJ.
“If you look at all of these events that have happened; Michigan, Uvalde, the Parkland shooting, they’ve all had their own third-party investigations except Santa Fe. Why? We want to know why,” said Matranga.
US Rep. Randy Weber/(R) TX-Dist. 14, along with State Senator Mayes Middleton and State Representatives Terri Leo-Wilson and Dr. Greg Bonnen, sent letters to the DOJ supporting Matranga’s request for an investigation.
“There are lessons learned that can help the next school, the next first responders learn from this. I believe there should be a DOJ investigation for every mass school shooting because our children deserve this,” said Flo Rice, who was critically wounded during the Santa Fe mass shooting.
Matranga shared with KPRC 2 the response letter he received from DOJ. The DOJ’s letter never mentions Santa Fe but reads, “you request an investigation into the Columbine shooting.”
The DOJ’s letter further instructs Matranga that if he feels a federal crime has been committed to call the FBI. There is no signature on the DOJ’s letter just “Sincerely, Correspondence Management Staff, Office of Administration.”
“That irritated me, because it just showed me that someone didn’t even do their due diligence to read through the entire request to see that we’re not requesting a third-party investigation into Columbine. We’re requesting a third-party investigation into the May 18th, 2018, shooting at Santa Fe, where Galveston County residents lost ten victims,” said Matranga. “What’s going on at the Department of Justice they can’t even have the compassion to read a letter and to respond appropriately.”
Rice said she found the DOJ’s letter “disrespectful and demeaning.” Her husband, Scot, helped Matranga craft the letter.
“It’s like the shooting everybody’s forgotten, nobody cares, it’s never mentioned,” said Scot Rice. “They just want us to shut up and go away.”
Rosie Stone lost her son, Chris Stone, in the mass shooting. She said she had a moment of disbelief when Matranga shared the DOJ’s letter with her.
“When I read that, I was like, what?” said Stone. “Two things telling me about that [letter], either they truly did not read it at all, zero, or that’s just a generic letter to send it out and say, ‘Hey, we were doing something, just go about your day.’ What an embarrassment. Are they going to apologize to us?”
Weber didn’t pull any punches when sharing his thoughts on the DOJ’s letter.
“The DOJ has wasted its time targeting political opponents and now can’t even handle a serious issue properly. This response is disgraceful and an affront to my district, friends, and the Santa Fe families impacted by this heinous act. Did the inept bureaucrats who addressed this inquiry even understand the gravity of the event they were supposed to comment on? Heads must roll at the DOJ, and the Office of Administration must issue a formal apology without delay,” Weber wrote in a statement to KPRC 2.
KPRC 2 reached out to the DOJ to ask who reviewed Matranga’s request, who made a decision on that request, who sent the response letter and whether the DOJ will reconsider its decision. We have not yet received a response.
“Give us a little bit more respect, that’s what I’m asking for. Our children deserve that and our teachers deserve that,” said Stone.
Flo and Scot Rice, Matranga and Stone said the DOJ’s letter will not deter them from seeking a third-party investigation.
“The Department of Justice is going to give us the respect that we deserve, or myself and some of these victims’ families will be walking into [U.S. Attorney General] Merrick Garland’s office ourselves, and we will wait there until we get answers,” said Matranga.
The criminal case against the charged gunman remains at a standstill because Dimitrios Pagourtzis remains incompetent to stand trial. Doctors at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon have been working to restore his competency since 2019.
Pagourtzis has been in the hospital for 1,690 days as of July 18. According to state data obtained by KPRC 2 Investigates, the average time it took doctors at North Texas to restore a defendant’s competency was 229 days in fiscal year 2022, 227 days in fiscal year 2023, and 126 days in fiscal year 2024.
A civil lawsuit filed against his parents by several family members is set for trial on July 29. The suit accuses the parents of not doing more to spot signs of mental illness in their son and for not preventing him from getting access to firearms in the home. Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos have denied any wrongdoing.