Judge Jack Ewing ruled Wednesday that the school district will not be included as a defendant in the civil lawsuit against school shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis and his parents.
Defense attorney Lori Laird had requested on Friday that the Santa Fe Independent School District be added to the lawsuit. Ewing rejected the request on Wednesday, arguing that the request was filed too late and that the defendants did not subpoena the school records until five years after the shooting, he said.
“The court finds that there is no valid reason to include the Santa Fe School District as a responsible party,” Ewing said.
Defendants must file such motions at least 60 days before the start of the trial, Ewing said.
All witnesses interviewed agreed that the school district bore some responsibility for failing to enforce the dress code when Pagourtzis repeatedly wore a trench coat and for failing to notice signs that he was harboring violent thoughts, according to testimony.
Defense attorneys argued that Pagourtzis conducted more than 2,700 “disturbing” searches on school computers that should have been noticed by teachers and administrators. But school officials argued that the searches could not have taken place at school because they did not get past website blockers.
