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The mayor of Santa Fe, Texas, recently posted on Facebook an apology for his comments regarding the Santa Fe High School shooting, saying that his ongoing struggle with alcoholism was to blame.
Mayor Jason Tabor elaborated he started to binge drink after his father died, attributing the sharing of inaccurate information about the shooting to being "straight up in party mode."
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The Santa Fe High School shooting took place on May 18, 2018, shortly after Tabor was elected. Ten lives were lost and 13 students and a faculty member were injured, and in what Tabor claims was a drunken stupor over the Fourth of July weekend, he made a post on Facebook offering inaccurate information about the shooting and the case against the shooter.
"It was a mistake," Tabor said.
Tabor said he was at a Louisiana casino when he posted details about the primary target in the mass shooting, details that were not disclosed to the public in the ongoing criminal investigation.
The shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who had been a student at the time, was charged with capital murder, and Tabor also disclosed Pagourtzis was still in custody at a mental institution as he was deemed unfit to stand trial.
According to The Houston Chronicle, a story was published by news station KPRC with a screenshot of the original post before Tabor took it down, Tabor had claimed he knew Pagourtzis' motive and shared details about one victim's injuries that were deemed inaccurate.
Newsweek was unable to find the original post or the screenshot.
Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady wrote to The Chronicle Thursday, "My only statement on the Mayor's post is that the information he posted about the case is not accurate, and someone in his position has absolutely no business making a statement like that publicly."
Tabor's apology stated he was in rehab last September, and had over the weekend, had forgotten his medication. "When the meds wore off it was like a freight train hit me with emotions. So that led to my stupid post about the shooting," he wrote.
"There is a group that wants me to step down as Mayor. I will be talking with my wife to see how we move forward with us. I truly love my community and I am so sorry," Tabor concluded.
The Chronicle reported Tabor plans to revisit treatments for his alcoholism, and in a private interview, Tabor said, "I am taking some scrutiny now but, I mean, this will blow over eventually."
"People will, I think, truly see what I have really done, how hard I have really worked and also that I am willing to admit that I have my own faults," he added.
Newsweek reached out to Santa Fe City Council, who declined to comment.
About the writer
Emma Mayer is a Newsweek Culture Writer based in Wyoming. Her focus is reporting on celebrities, books, movies, and music. ... Read more