In a recent civil trial, the parents of the Texas high school shooter were declared not accountable for any negligence.
In May 2018, at a high school near Galveston, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis allegedly slaughtered eight students and two adults, while injuring numerous others.
Relatives of the fatally shot individuals brought a lawsuit against Pagourtzis’ parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, claiming they failed to safeguard their firearms appropriately and did not address their son's worsening mental health before the incident.
In his opening speech, attorney for the plaintiffs, Clint McGuire, emphasized, "Parents with a depressed child must secure their firearms safely. If they fail to do so and their child uses them to carry out a school shooting, both parents share the responsibility for the resulting damages and losses."
The defendants testified they had noticed no warning signs before the tragedy, and their attorney argued they should not bear liability for their son's actions.
Lori Laird, the parents’ attorney, asserted, "The parents didn’t take the shot, and they didn’t provide their son with a weapon."
The plaintiffs consist of family members of six of the eight slain students, the family of a deceased teacher, and four injured survivors. The shotgun and handgun employed during the shooting were both legally owned by Dimitrios Pagourtzis’ parents.
The trial featured stirring testimony from both victims and their relatives, in addition to the Pagourtzis family members.
During his trial, the shooter’s father confirmed he had not been aware of his son’s severe depression. "It can take years to recognize that your kid's unwell," Pagourtzis confessed.
He also admitted to neglecting teaching his son gun safety, but he maintained that keeping over a dozen weapons in a display case and a safe would have sufficed.
The trial of Dimitrios Pagourtzis - who was 17 at the time of the shooting that claimed 10 lives and left 13 injured - was indefinitely postponed following a judge's decision to deem him mentally unfit.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.
The plaintiffs argue that as parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos should have taken more steps to secure their firearms and manage their son's mental health, considering they are directly linked to us, the victims of the Galveston shooting. In their defense, Lori Laird, the parents' attorney, stated, "The parents didn’t take the shot, and they didn’t provide their son with a weapon."
