On May 18, 2018, a school shooting occurred at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, United States, in the Houston metropolitan area. Then 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis shot and killed ten people: eight students and two teachers. Thirteen others were wounded. Pagourtzis was then taken into custody.
Pagourtzis was charged with murder and assault, and with eleven federal crimes that cannot be disclosed as he was a minor at the time of the shooting. He was declared incompetent to stand trial shortly after being charged, and as of March 2026 is still considered incompetent.
Pagourtzis, his parents, and the manufacturer of the weapons that were used in the shooting were named in a civil lawsuit by some of the victims' families. A jury found Pagourtzis and the weapons manufacturer responsible for the killings, but his parents not responsible.
The Santa Fe Independent School District has an active shooter plan, and two armed police officers that interacted with students in the school. In the year prior to the shooting, the school district leadership made plans to arm teachers and staff through the Texas School Marshal Program.
The shooting occurred three months after the Parkland high school shooting. One month before the shooting, students at Santa Fe High School participated in the March for Our Lives protests.
On March 2, 2018, Dimitrios Pagourtzis logged on to LuckyGunner.com and purchased 50 rounds of .38 Special ammunition and 105 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition. Two weeks later, on March 13, 2018, Pagourtzis ordered an additional 35 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition. In both cases, Pagourtzis was not required to provide any proof of age, he paid using an American Express gift card, used his real name and address for shipment, and declined the adult signature requirement, with both his orders being automatically approved, and shipped through FedEx.
The gunman began firing a weapon into an art class at the school at 7:32 a.m. CDT. The incident occurred in the school's art complex, which consists of four interconnected rooms with interior hallways, and four other rooms. Witnesses said the two targeted classrooms are connected by a ceramics room that the shooter accessed by damaging a door window. During the shooting a staff member pulled a fire alarm, causing most of the school to evacuate.
One wounded victim told reporters the shooter walked into the classroom and pointed his firearm at another person, singing "Another One Bites the Dust" in between shots. According to a witness, students barricaded themselves in the art classroom storage closet, but the shooter shot through the door with a shotgun. He left the art room briefly, causing students to leave the closet and attempt to barricade the art room door, but he pushed the door open. Upon spotting a student he knew, he said "Surprise!" and shot the student in the chest. Students are credited with giving victims first aid.
Santa Fe ISD Police officers stationed at the school exchanged fire with the shooter, with one officer being wounded and admitted in critical condition to a local hospital. After the gunman shot into the ceramics room, he was engaged by another school officer and a Texas Highway Patrol trooper who attempted to have him surrender peacefully. He reportedly threatened to shoot the officers and repeatedly fired rounds while arguing with the police. He surrendered to the officers after being injured. The Galveston County Sheriff said officers confronted him within four minutes and allowed for the safe evacuation of other students and faculty.
Parents were kept off school grounds during the response to the shooting, with parents being directed to the Alamo gym by 8 AM. Students were then evacuated to the gym and reunited with their parents.
Ten people were killed and thirteen people were injured. The eight students and two teachers killed were:
The shooter told police he meant to kill the classmates he shot and wanted to spare the students he liked, so he could "have his story told". The shooting lasted about 25 minutes until he was arrested.
According to the probable cause affidavit and complaint filed by law enforcement, the shooter used a short-barreled 12-gauge Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun and a Rossi .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver. Both firearms appear to have been legally owned by his father. Various types of explosive devices were found at the school and off campus, as well as a Molotov cocktail, and residents in the surrounding area were warned to be aware of all suspicious objects.
Two other people were detained by police as persons of interest. One was detained at the scene due to "suspicious reactions" after the shooting, and another was described as being interviewed.
The suspected shooter was identified by police as Dimitrios Pagourtzis (born October 12, 2000), a 17-year-old junior at the school. He is charged with capital murder of multiple people and aggravated assault against a public servant, and has been held in custody without bail. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life. His father came to the United States in his mid-twenties from Magoulista, Karditsa, Greece. He ran a business in the Santa Fe area selling agricultural machinery.
According to at least one witness, Pagourtzis was bullied by multiple students and coaches. The school denied the allegations of bullying by coaches. One of his former teachers described him as "quiet, but he wasn't quiet in a creepy way", and said that he had never seen him draw or write anything in his class journal that she found suspicious or unusual. Pagourtzis was on the honor roll, and he played on the school football team.
Pagourtzis's journals on his computer and cell phone, found by police after the shooting, suggested to Governor Greg Abbott "not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting, planned on doing this for some time. He advertised his intentions but somehow slipped through the cracks." Classmates recounted how at a water park the day before the shooting Pagourtzis did not show any signs of his plans, and seemed friendly and funny.
The New York Times and Los Angeles Times highlighted Pagourtzis's social media presence. On April 30, Pagourtzis posted a photo of a shirt with the words "Born to Kill" on his Facebook page. The Facebook page also included photos of his black duster coat with several buttons on it, with an accompanying caption: "Hammer and Sickle=Rebellion. Rising Sun=Kamikaze Tactics. Iron Cross=Bravery. Baphomet=Evil. Cthulu=Power." The Facebook page has since been taken down.