Attorney: Accused Santa Fe High Gunman Mentally ‘Incompetent’

The attorney for accused Santa Fe High School gunman Dimitrios Pagourtzis is seeking to have his client declared “incompetent” to stand trial.

Pagourtzis allegedly killed ten people on May 18, 2018, using a handgun and a shotgun. His attorney, Nicholas Poehl, now suggests Pagourtzis is not mentally stable enough to stand trial.

Click 2 Houston reports Poehl saying, “Three experts who have evaluated Mr. Pagourtzis for competency have determined that he is not presently competent to stand trial.”

He added, “While there will be further information coming from the court over the next few weeks, the state is agreeing that he is presently not competent, this means he will be sent to a state psychiatric hospital for treatment with the goal of restoring him to legal competency. Once he is restored to competency, trial can proceed.”

The Houston Chronicle reports that prosecutors “will not contest [the] finding” that Pagourtzis lacks competency.  This means the trial is delayed for “four to six months,” to allow time for additional evaluation of the alleged gunman.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.