GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – During opening statements of the civil trial involving the 2018 mass shooting at Santa Fe High School, the jury was told the charged gunman spent months planning his attack. That planning, jurors heard, included online searches about other school shootings, suicide, Kamikaze techniques and weapons.
While much of that research was done on a home computer, defense attorney Lori Laird told jurors the charged gunman also looked up some of this material on a school computer.
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“You did hear some previews here that Dimitri (Pagourtzis) had some disturbing material on his computer, but what is far more disturbing than that is what was on the high school computer. We received a data dump with the most disturbing searches that you’ve ever seen. Searching school shootings, searching suicide, searching military combat gear, searching weapons. Not one time did the school say, ‘there’s a problem we need to call the parents,’” Laird told jurors. “He’s searching suicide web pages, he’s searching school shootings, he’s looking at weapons and this is happening on a school computer.”
When KPRC 2 asked Santa Fe ISD officials for a response we received a written statement from Asst. Superintendent Jenny Davenport.
“As the community knows, Santa Fe ISD has content blocking and filtering software on its technology. Not once has any investigating agency informed the District that our devices were used in this manner. If we are ever alerted that a student has violated our Acceptable Use Policy, administrators follow proper protocols to ensure the safety of students and staff (including communication with parents and necessary stakeholders). We find this allegation in the opening statement, which is not part of testimony under oath, to be lacking credibility,” Davenport wrote.
After received Santa Fe ISD’s statement we spoke again with Laird.
“The (Galveston County) District Attorney’s Office provided all parties involved in this lawsuit with a large amount of data entitled “Santa Fe High School computer dump.” It is our understanding this information was extracted from a Santa Fe High School computer. If anyone doubts that, they are welcome to come down to have a look and speak with the District Attorney,” said Laird.
The parents of the charged gunman are being sued by family members of those killed during the mass shooting and survivors. The suit claims Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Maria Kosmetatos should have done more to recognize their son’s mental illness and prevent him from getting his hands on guns in the family’s home. Plaintiff’s attorney Clint McGuire said Dimitrios Pagourtzis used his father’s shotgun and his mother’s .38-caliber handgun to carrying out the mass shooting.
Defense attorneys argued the parents had no idea the depths of their son’s mental illness and no red flags were raised by school officials.