Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the suspected gunman who opened fire at a Texas high school on Friday morning, apparently posted photos of neo-Nazi iconography online, before allegedly killing at least 8 people. The suspect is a 17-year-old male student at Santa Fe High School and has been taken into custody. Explosive devices were left inside the school and suspect reportedly had an assault-style rifle, shotgun, and pistol.
On April 30, Pagourtzis apparently posted a t-shirt with “born to kill” printed on the front, boasting that it was custom-made. That same day, Pagourtzis posted multiple pictures of a duster jacket emblazoned with a variety of symbols including the Iron Cross, a German military award last given by the Nazis, and a hammer and sickle. He said he equated the Iron Cross with “bravery,” and the hammer and sickle with “rebellion.”
Candi Thurman, a junior at the school, told The Daily Beast that Pagourtzis wore a coat similar to the one posted to his Facebook page. “The sketchy thing is, he wore a full-on black trench coat to school every day,” Thurman said. “It’s like 90 degrees outside and this guy is still wearing a trench coat,” Thurman said. “It should have been noted. That’s a red flag right there.” Other images on Pagourtzis’ now-deleted Facebook page suggest a possible interest in white supremacist groups. Pagourtzis’ account was scrubbed of all content immediately after the massacre, a measure Facebook and other social media sites usually take with suspected mass murderers. A still-live Instagram with Pagourtzis’ name has posts from April 24 showing an arcade-style game featuring a sniper rifle and another with a gun and knife on a bedspread captioned: “Hi fuckers.”
I’m sure all those thoughts are prayers are coming.
For more: Live News Chat Politics