UPDATE, THURSDAY SEPT. 11: Authorities have identified the 16-year-old suspect in the shooting at Evergreen High School
EVERGREEN — A teenage boy fatally shot himself after critically wounding two fellow students at Evergreen High School on Wednesday, authorities say.
The suspected shooter was wielding a revolver, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. His name and age have not been released, nor has his motive.
The sheriff’s office initially said a fourth child was transported to a hospital, but later clarified that information was incorrect and there was no fourth victim.
The school shooting Wednesday afternoon, which sent frantic students seeking shelter in nearby homes, is the latest in a state where it seems the wounds of each tragedy only partially heal before they’re reopened when the next one invariably happens. The last fatal shooting inside of a Colorado school happened in 2019 at STEM School Highlands Ranch.
The sheriff’s office received the first call about the shooting at Evergreen High School at 12:24 p.m. A flood of requests for help from the school then came in, said Jacki Kelley, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. First responders were on scene in “about a minute or two” — a sheriff’s office substation is down the street — and deputies were in contact with the shooter within five, she said.
There was not a school resource officer at the school at the time of the shooting, she said.
“It’s never fast enough, but we’re very grateful that it was as quick as it was,” Kelley said.
She said the shooter fired at several locations inside and near the school. Law enforcement did not fire any weapons, she added.
“I don’t know if the suspect had more than one weapon,” Kelley said. “But we will learn that.”
The minimum age to purchase a handgun in Colorado is 21.
A spokesperson for St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood said three teenagers were transported from the school, all in critical condition. As of 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, two remained in critical condition, Dr. Brian Blackwood, trauma medical director at St. Anthony Hospital told reporters.
The third teen was recovering from injuries that were not life threatening and was in stable condition, he said.
The hospital announced at about 7 p.m. that one of the students had died.
“Locks, lights, out of sight”
Jefferson County’s dispatch center reported the assailant near the high school at 29300 Buffalo Park Road, calling it an “active” scene at about 12:40 p.m.
Videos and photos from Evergreen showed law enforcement vehicles racing toward the school, which has about 900 students. Traffic around Evergreen was in gridlock Wednesday afternoon, and roads leading to the high school were shut down.
Abby Odgren, a sophomore, was eating lunch in the cafeteria with friends when an announcement blared over the school instructing everyone “locks, lights, out of sight.” That message, used during school safety drills, warns students of an emergency.
“We knew something was wrong,” Abby, 15, told The Colorado Sun.
She said students immediately stood up, looked around and bolted toward the door, sprinting into the woods while hearing what sounded like loud gunshots. Abby and other students ran to a friend’s nearby house.
“We all couldn’t tell if it was real or not,” Abby said. “We thought it was better to be safe I guess so we all ran out just to get away. We didn’t know what was happening.”
Jane Maren, also a sophomore, was standing in the lunch line with a tray in hand waiting to pick up her meal when she heard the intercom. Jane, 14, said she saw a student run outside the cafeteria doors, which set off a school alarm. Kids started running everywhere and she heard a gunshot that sounded like it was right outside the cafeteria.
“I didn’t even know it was a gunshot,” Jane said. “I was like, no way that’s actually happening right now. This has to be a drill of some sort.”
Jane said she followed other students out the door and ran to her house, which is near the school. She lost her slippers on the way and raced home in just her socks.
About 15 other kids streamed into her house before her mom locked the door. They piled into the basement and then shifted to her bedroom when they realized they shouldn’t be near the basement windows. Even while safe inside, Jane said she worried the shooter would follow a trail running through the woods to her home and shoot the group of students hiding there through a window.
It was only a month or two ago that she was watching a video of a school shooting happening, and remembers thinking, “That is actually my worst fear. I hope that never happens to me.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, she was still in disbelief.
“It just feels like a fever dream,” Jane said.
Hours after the initial calls to 911, dozens of police vehicles remained on scene, many still with their emergency lights on. The front entrance to the school was draped in police tape, as was a parking lot in the back. Investigators were milling about the school’s parking lots, as well as its perimeter.
The entire campus appeared to be one massive crime scene.
In the back of the school, it looked like the school day had been interrupted in an instant. Backpacks, clothing and other items were strewn about near exits and on a picnic table. It was clear they had been discarded in a panic.
Some people who live near Evergreen High School told TV stations that frantic students and staff raced to their homes seeking shelter.
“Keep running!” a student shouted in a video captured by a doorbell camera and sent to KMGH-TV.
As the sun started to set, the school supplies and teenage necessities left behind were being guarded by sheriff’s deputies wielding long guns.
School buses carrying students and escorted by police vehicles were periodically coming down from the high school. Ambulances that were sent to the school departed empty.
Among the people gathered at the base of Buffalo Park Road were parents looking for information. But they were being turned away by officers. No one was being allowed to approach the campus — even people who live nearby.
Gov. Jared Polis said he was actively monitoring the situation and receiving live updates from Colorado State Patrol troopers.
“Students should be able to attend school safely and without fear across our state and nation,” Polis said in a statement. “We are all praying for the victims and the entire community.”
Parents were asked to avoid the high school and picked up their students at Bergen Meadow Elementary School.
Kelley said hundreds of law enforcement officers converged on the high school, some of whom had not been called to help. She attributed this to the sad reality that Colorado cops have extensive experience responding to shootings at schools.
Since 1999, there have been at least 19 shootings in or near Colorado schools, including the Columbine High School massacre.
“We always say ‘not again’ and here we are,” she said.
Investigation will likely take days
Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli said the investigation into the shooting could last days, and she asked residents to refrain from visiting Evergreen High School just to look at the crime scene and to not fly any drones over the site.
Law enforcement must be able to comb through the school and investigators need time and space to use their equipment “to do the job that we need to do that’s necessary,” Marinelli said at an evening news conference.
“It’s a tragic day here in Jefferson County that we unfortunately have experienced previously,” Marinelli said. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this senseless shooting.”
Cindy Mazeika, president of Parents, Teachers/Staff and Students Association at Evergreen High School, said the shooting occurred just one day after the organization’s first meeting, where members discussed security concerns and the need for more school safety staff.
“That is very eerie for us,” Mazeika, who has one daughter at the school and another who graduated last year, told The Sun. “This is a lovely community. We’re in shock. We cannot believe this happened in our community.”
Mazeika said her younger daughter, a junior, was home for lunch during the shooting. She worries about the kids who were in the school when gunfire rang out.
“What they saw and the shock that they went through, they’re never going to forget this day,” she said. “My heart is still racing. My stomach has turned upside down. I’m still in shock. I just pray for all those kids to have peace in their mind.”