Posted on 05/23/2018 3:58:05 AM PDT by Magnatron
The father of the 17-year-old charged with killing 10 people at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, said Monday that his son was a “good boy” and had been “mistreated at school.”
Antonios Pagourtzis said in a brief phone interview with The Wall Street Journal that his son Dimitrios was bullied and “I believe that’s what was behind” the shooting.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis is being held without bond at the Galveston County Jail after he allegedly burst into an art classroom Friday morning at Santa Fe High School armed with a shotgun and pistol and opened fire, before surrendering to police. In a probable cause statement, authorities said he admitted to the shooting.
The Santa Fe Independent School District didn’t respond to requests for comment on whether Dimitrios Pagourtzis was bullied. On Saturday, it denied reports that he was bullied by high-school coaches in this small rural Texas to
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I'm sure there are 8 families who very much would like to have spent 20 minutes with their sons or daughters on Saturday rather than planning their funerals.
He's blaming the victims for their deaths at the hands of his son and the father's weapons which weren't kept safe. He's making excuses why his son did it.
I wonder how many on here will cheer the first time a judge applies the domestic abuse 'battered wife syndrome' dogma and sends a shooter free because 'he suffered years of emotional abuse.'
We're not that far from that moment right now; too often we enable the blaming of victims with the cloud guilt of 'bullying.' All too often, it turns out the horrible things done were failing to invite the perp to parties or he couldn't find a date or someone just didn't like them.
Life is full of disappointments and missed opportunities. We will constantly throughout our life come across people who just don't like us or even actively act to undermine us. In a society which has 'safe rooms' being built into college campuses, I'll take a very big grain of salt any claim of bullying. All too often, it's simply someone saying something which they didn't want to hear.
> Serious question: Why has this shooting not produced a Hogg-type?
Because none of the kids’ dads work for the FBI and have internships at CNN.
The Hogg FBI-CNN connection is more interesting in light of the FBI-CNN anti-Trump campaign revelations, don’t you think?
And as we’re seeing in almost every case, there is rarely a father present to set the kid right.
If the kid couldn’t handle high school bullying then he is gonna just love prison
I agree with you.
A lot of these kids live in a world of fear all day, everyday. I can’t imagine having to wake up, get ready for school, and know what is coming when you get on the bus, or to school. This stuff Spills over to few friends, and being isolated. I’ve seen some videos of kids being hammered by others in school hallways, and NO ONE around does anything to help out the abused kid. I can’t imagine years of this. On the bus, at school, in gym, probably in classes, at the mall, at the pool, local park. ABSOLUTELY a horrible way to grow up and live in general. Especially when, in many if not most cases, these things are brought to the attention of school admin, and they go NOWHERE(not sure about this particular case).
I may get flamed here, and I DO NOT CONDONE kids rampaging with guns through schools, but I can see why they may snap.
Guilt, rage, shame, unhappiness, despair can only be tolerated so much I suppose.
Such a shame!
Thank you. Another element that must be added to your list, is the internet and social media. Their abuse is inescapable. If liberal women were being abused in the same manner of terrorism as these kids, boy would we hear about it. Congressional hearings, arrests, the works. As I see it the bullies are little elitists in training. Most of these kids just slink off into the shadows, they don’t murder, they just mourn the loss of themselves, everyday.
Agreed—I totally neglected the internet-
Man o man—I just can’t imagine the pain these families are experiencing. All the dreams these parents have/had for their children—gone in an instant. Horrific
Seems the 16 y/o who ran over the cop in Baltimore has a long list of bad behavior. He certainly didn’t get consequences for his prior actions. Now he will spend the rest of his life in prison. At his age, he might not last too long, either.
Bullying may be a more recent factor in what this guy’s monster kid did, but at the base of it is poor parenting.
I would expect that the parents will be at least sued (it was Dad’s non-secured guns that were used here), and maybe charged criminally. It is tragic - because it is bad enough to have to go around for the rest of your life knowing that someone you created and raised caused so much death and misery...but actions (or the lack thereof, as the case may be) have consequences.
The guy was harassing a girl to go out with him. Some just don’t understand no.
This has to be taken a step farther.
Until the schools and the other students admit their portion of their responsibility for these events, and then move to correct the situation, nothing will get better.
That’s no excuse for murder.
Why is the father not in jail?
The kid was underage, those were his fathers guns he used.
“...the bullies are little elitists in training...”
Yes - the entitled future ivy league elitists have the attitude of superiority from a very early age.
One of the problems in these scenarios is the way that the liberals have set up education to begin with.
Herds of cliquey adolescents competing each day to establish the pecking order without any checks and balances is is a recipe for disaster.
As I said earlier - Lord of the Flies.
If you are in this thread calling for criminal charges against the parents then you are part of the problem. And you certainly have no understanding of what the word “justice” means.
BooFrickinHoo.
Kids always have been bullied at school since the beginning of time. (I was.) You deal with it. Your parents didn’t coddle you at home and blow sunshine up your skirt saying that you’re the most wonderful child on God’s Green Earth.
You had adversity. You weren’t handed everything you wanted. Parents told you, “No”, and that was that. When someone rejected you, you moved on. Kids run the homes now; they’re never told “No” so they have no idea how to handle rejection.
Agree: The shooter’s parents should be held liable, at least partially so.
“Why has this shooting not produced a Hogg-type?”
Different mindset. Texas has more Christian conservatives. SE FL... not so much.
“...parents of the Columbine killers didn’t seem to notice their own kids using chemicals...”
Take Mom out of the home and stick her behind a desk from 8 to 5, you never know what she’ll miss.
I don’t know, but even though I have an 10 hour a day job, I still regularly visit the kids rooms. I know how ammonia smells like very well. A plenty of metal or plastic? I just have a hard time seeing it as a father with a day job.
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