One dead, 8 injured in shooting at Colorado charter school, 2 suspects in custody
One student was killed and eight wounded when two male classmates opened fire with handguns at a Colorado charter school, authorities said Tuesday.
The violence unfolded just before 2 p.m. at the STEM School Highlands Ranch, about 12 miles south of Denver and seven miles from Columbine High School, authorities said.
“It is with extreme sadness that we can confirm that 1 student at the STEM School was killed in today’s #stemshooting incident,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office tweeted hours after the shooting.
The slain student was an 18-year-old male, they added in the tweet. Several other students sustained critical injuries in the mass shooting, police said.
The two suspects, an 18-year-old and another teenager were brought into custody, police added. No other suspects were being sought.
The 18-year-old suspect was identified by police after the shooting as Devon Erickson. The other suspect, whose name was not released, is a transgender person in the process of transitioning from female to male, ABC affiliate Denver Television reported, citing multiple sources.
“Many kids self-evacuated. The rest are being taken there by bus,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said in a press conference.
In addition to local authorities, the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the school, the ABC affiliate reported, citing a law-enforcement source.
At least one medevac helicopter was spotted landing in a nearby field, as ambulances and police vehicles continued to pull up to the school nearly 90 minutes after the initial response.
The public STEM school — attended by more than 1,850 students from kindergarten through 12th grade — was placed on lockdown, and all other Douglas County schools were on lockout, the network added.
“We are making all of our public safety resources available to assist the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department in their effort to secure the site and evacuate the students,” tweeted Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
“We are monitoring the situation in real time. The heart of all Colorado is with the victims & their families.”
The shooting comes just weeks after an 18-year-old woman obsessed with the infamous Columbine High School massacre flew to Colorado with the apparent intent of shooting up a school ahead of the bloodshed’s 20th anniversary.
That woman, Sol Pais, killed herself before carrying out the attack.
With Post wires