Where Your Children Are texas

School shooting at Texas high school, 8-10 dead, suspect in custody

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image courtesy Facebook

Does this look like the face of evil to you?

Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, was arrested this morning in connection with a shooting at his Texas high school that left as many as 10 people dead (early reports confirm 9 students and 1 adult murdered), and many others injured, including a school resource officer. Students at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas told reporters they’d seen Pagourtzis prowling the halls wearing a black trench coat and carrying a sawed-off shotgun. At least three life-flight helicopters landed on school grounds to transport critically injured people to the hospital.

Pagourtzis apparently wasted no time, as it was reported that the school was placed on lockdown due to an active shooter at 8am. The situation was contained by 10am, after two hours of horror. Investigations also included the search for homemade pipe bombs in a mobile home he is said to have lived in, a mile from the school. But “the worst is over,” according to assistant principal Cris Richardson. Tell that to the grief stricken parents that will never see their children alive, again.

This attack was most definitely premeditated, as last month Pagourtzis purchased a t-shirt reading “Born to Kill,” and posted it proudly on his Facebook page, which has since been removed. He played football at the school and was listed as an honor student in his younger years, but is also described by classmates as quiet and withdrawn.

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Pagourtzis’ social media accounts are being removed, but some people were quick to get screenshots beforehand

There’s been no definitive link between the two incidents, but back in March, the school was placed on lockdown due to reports of shots being fired within the school. So Santa Fe High is no stranger to the fear that comes with mass shootings. They held a walkout on April 20th of this year, in protest of gun violence. That sure did a whole lot.

Early interviews with students alluded to Pagourtzis being bullied by peers and teachers alike. It’s no secret that bullying is rampant in schools, due in part to the complete lack of a true moral code (“What’s right for you isn’t necessarily right for Derek, you closed minded bigot”) and mob mentality that is present in unnatural environments of forced socialization (prison also comes to mind). Most kids escape relatively unscathed. Some have lasting issues that continue into adulthood. And a few become mass shooters. How will your children be affected?

Multiple fatalities reported after Texas high school shooting – live updates

Dimitrios Pagourtzis: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Santa Fe shooting suspect is student Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, who had ‘Born to Kill’ t-shirt

Where Your Children Are utah

Teen charged with bringing homemade bomb to school

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image courtesy Google Maps

Think back to all the things you or your peers may have done to try to appear “cool,” when you were teenagers. Smoking? Drinking? Maybe some hard drugs? A tattoo? Piercing? If this report of a Utah teen planning on blowing up his school to impress ISIS is any indication, all of your childhood rebellions were, indeed, child’s play.

While gang activity is nothing new to anyone who has grown up in an urban environment, Muslim extremism in the form of ISIS is not something many of us had to deal with when we were in high school. An unnamed (“to protect his identity,” according to police) 16-year-old (some articles have him listed as 17) brought a homemade bomb to Pine View High School in St. George, Utah on March 5th and left it in a backpack somewhere inside the building. Luckily, the kid had no idea how to follow whatever instructions he found on Google, and the bomb never actually exploded, instead just emitting smoke and freaking people the heck out.

The student is also suspected of vandalizing a United States flag and raising a homemade flag with Arabic letters, as well as defacing a wall with pro-ISIS graffiti at Hurricane High School, some 15 miles away. May he possibly have attended that school prior to Pine View? As is the case with many “problem students,” schools seem to play “hot potato” with them, eventually shuffling them off to another location after they act out. Way to protect your students by exposing every single one in the area to an unstable person. This is precisely why a gun ban should not be the only issue on our lips concerning violence toward our children. There needs to be more recourse for dealing with mentally unstable people, those with a history of violence or anyone with ties to a violent organization.

Besides admitting everything to police, the teen expressed no remorse or concern for the potential loss of life that could have occurred. Great character education these schools have.

He’s been charged with attempted murder and use of a weapon of mass destruction, among other things.

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Disturbing new details emerge in case of St. George teen accused of attempted school bombing