GALVESTON, Texas – On the tenth day of the civil trial against the parents of accused gunman Dimitrios Pagourtzis, Santa Fe Independent School District (ISD) was brought into the legal proceedings.
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The lawsuit stems from the tragic 2018 mass shooting at Santa Fe High School, where Pagourtzis allegedly opened fire, killing 10 people and injuring several others. While Pagourtzis has been deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial, the families of the victims are now seeking to hold his parents accountable for their son’s actions.
Throughout the trial, which has been closely covered by KPRC 2, the courtroom has heard emotional testimonies from the victims’ families, who argue that the Pagourtzis parents should be held responsible for the shooting along with their son.
The trial has also focused on the troubling behaviors of Dimitrios Pagourtzis, including head-banging and isolation during football games, which his father, Antonios Pagourtzis, denied knowing about. Despite being questioned on various incidents, Antonios stated that he did not feel responsible for his son’s actions on the day of the shooting.
The attorneys for Dimitrios’s parents, Antonios and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, said that Santa Fe ISD should be included as a responsible third party in the lawsuit, arguing that the school district shared some of the blame for the tragedy.
The defense emphasized that Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who could be tried as an adult at 17, took deliberate steps to hide his intentions from his parents, and that the parents had no legal obligation to restrict his access to firearms after he turned 17. The defense also filed a motion to dismiss the count of negligent entrustment against the parents, which the judge granted, noting that the plaintiffs did not pursue this claim during the trial.
However, the judge acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence regarding the negligent storage of firearms to allow the trial to continue. The plaintiffs countered the defense’s motion by citing case law that supports holding parents accountable for failing to prevent their children from causing harm, even if those children are nearing adult age.
On Tuesday, the plaintiffs responded to the motion:
The judge has not yet ruled on whether Santa Fe ISD will be formally included as a responsible third party in the lawsuit.