GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — The civil trial of the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting entered a new phase Monday as the defense began to present its case.
The father of accused shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis was the first person called to the stand by the very attorneys representing him. Antonios Pagourtzis and his wife, Rose Marie Kosmetatos, are being sued by families and survivors of the mass shooting that left 10 dead and 13 wounded.
The plaintiff’s attorneys have argued the couple should have done more to keep their son from getting access to his father’s shotgun and mother’s revolver.
In court Monday, the defense launched their arguments with critical evidence: a wooden gun cabinet and metal gun safe from the Pagourtzis home. In jailhouse interviews with police following his arrest, Dimitrios Pagourtzis said he took the guns he used for the shooting from either the cabinet or the safe.
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Antonios Pagourtzis explained that he kept the gun cabinet in his living room and the gun safe in the garage. He told jurors that he never gave his son permission to open either the cabinet or the safe, and claimed his wife was the only other person who knew where the keys were. It wasn’t until after the shooting, that he learned Dimitri had searched for the keys for months, according to defense attorneys.
When asked by the defense, Antonios Pagourtzis said he did not believe Dimitrios had been drinking or smoking in the weeks before the shooting, as the gunman himself claimed in jailhouse interviews. He said he did not observe any failing grades, depression, or delusion; and did not observe Dimitrios becoming a “loner,” referencing his participation in sports and Greek dancing.
RELATED: Father of accused Santa Fe High School shooter denies he shares any blame for mass shooting
Antonios Pagourtzis told jurors that he believed online ammunition seller Lucky Gunner bore some responsibility for the shooting. While he denied any responsibility on his behalf, he offered an apology to survivors and the families of victims, conceding their lives were “destroyed that day.”
“I lost everything, and I feel sorry for the families, I hope they accept [unintelligible] … that’s all I ever say,” he said.
When a plaintiff’s attorneys began cross-examination, they asked the accused shooter’s father several questions about a report by Dr. Bradley Peterson, a psychiatrist hired by the defense to interview and examine Dimitrios and his family after the shooting. When presented with some of the report's findings that claimed he was prone to violent outbursts, Antonios Pagourtzis said those conclusions were incorrect.
The accused shooter's younger sister also took the stand Monday. She was emotional as she explained that she had a “close” relationship with her brother, and never saw him hurt himself or express a desire to harm others. She described her father as passionate but told jurors that he was not abusive or violent; she described her mother as a “helicopter parent,” but also someone she could confide in.