The Santa Fe Shooting: A Community Remembers One Year Later

SANTA FE, TX — Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the Santa Fe High School Shooting that wounded 13, and killed 10.

There will be events taking place in the Santa Fe community on Friday and Saturday honoring those lost in the shooting.

Santa Fe High School is hosting a Day of Remembrance and Resilience at the campus on Friday. School attendance is optional and will consist of a number of student-led activities, a special presentation of Hope and Resilience, and a tree planting ceremony.

Other activities scheduled for Saturday include:

• It Takes a Tribe Kickball Tournament at Runge Park from 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
• City of Santa Fe Resiliency Day: at the Galveston County Fairgrounds from 2-7:45 p.m., ending in a candlelight vigil.

On May 18, 2018, 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis allegedly walked into his high school armed with a handgun and a shotgun, and began shooting. It all happened as classes were starting. Pagourtzis allegedly began targeting students and teachers he didn't like, in the hallway and in classrooms.

Hours later, Pagourtzis was in police custody and the small coastal community of just over 12,000 residents was shaken. Those who were killed were identified as:

• Glenda Perkins
• Cynthia Tisdale
• Kimberly Vaughan
• Shana Fisher
• Angelique Ramirez
• Christian Riley Garcia
• Jared Black
• Sabika Sheikh
• Christopher Jake Stone
• Aaron Kyle McLeod.

Ten wooden crosses with the names of those killed were placed in front of the school in the days following the shooting. Students, parents and community members who came to those crosses placed flowers, balloons, and other mementos at the foot of those crosses, or they'd sit and just weep quietly while they reflected on this senseless tragedy.

Several days after the shooting, police accompanied students and staff members who'd fled in panic on May 18 into the school to retrieve personal items left behind. None were allowed to venture down the hallway where many had died.

Some students and staff who'd survived the massacre would never return to Santa Fe High School, but others would to start the new 2018-2019 school year.

Those who did return were greeted with enhanced security features, including metal detectors, security officers, cameras and panic buttons in the classrooms.

A security vestibule with bulletproof glass was added at the front entrance to the school, and teachers and staff members received training on curriculum, safety, and mental health issues. The district spent $3 million on security alone.

"If evil wants to do evil, it's going to happen," Santa Fe ISD Police Chief Walter Braun told ABC-13. "You can take measures to mitigate it, and to prepare for it, but I don't know anybody who can truthfully tell you, you could totally prevent it."

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