SANTA FE, Texas – The father of the alleged Santa Fe shooter says something must have happened to his son, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, prior to Friday’s mass shooting.
According to an interview with Antenna TV provided by the Associated Press, Antonios Pagourtzis says he feels pain for those affected.
Photos: Victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting
"I'm having a funeral, I'm having a funeral. I don't have joy now. I feel the pain of the others, but I have the same pain. I have the same exact pain. I'm sorry,” he said in Greek. “My kid, he wasn't the kind that gets into fights and things like that. He was a solid (good) boy, he visited Greece, he didn't drink, the only thing he did was work out and stuff like that.”
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The father said something must have happened to his son prior to Friday's mass shooting.
“Last night I cooked for the kid and we sat and ate together, and then we played... And then in the morning he got up and I asked him, are you leaving so early today? And he said 'I love you, Dad. I'm off, I love you and I'll see you in the afternoon.' Something must have happened now, this last week. Somebody probably came and hurt him, and since he was a solid boy I don't know what could have happened, I can't say what happened.”
He added that he hoped his son would not be executed.
“All I can say is what I suspect as a father, because I've lost my boy. I've lost my boy and the only thing I can try for is that they don't execute the kid,” he said. “My son, to me, is not a criminal, he's a victim.”
Antonios Pagourtzis explained that the guns found on his sound were his and that he legally owned them.
“The kid didn't own guns, I owned guns. They were legal, he took them out of the closet. I told the police, let me in so that he kills me, so nobody else gets hurt, let him kill me I don't mind,” he said. “They call me (from Greece) and they're saying 'the blood-stained weapons of the father', and 'the criminal'. I can't accept that, I can't accept what is happening (being said) in Greece. In Greece my homeland, the homeland that he loved so much."