Denver authorities reported that a teenager injured several other students at a local high school before committing suicide in a tragic shooting.
In a post on X on Wednesday, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said that the male suspect responsible for the incident at Evergreen High School died from self-inflicted injuries. The shooting was initially reported around 12:30 p.m., sheriff's spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.
Denver High School Shooting
Kelley said that shots rang out both inside and outside of the school building, noting that law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene found the shooter within five minutes of arriving.
The spokesperson added that none of the police officers who responded to the incident fired any shots from their weapons.CEO Kevin Cullinan said that the suspect, along with two other students he injured, were taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado.
Lindsay Radford, a spokesperson for the hospital, said on Wednesday that one of the teenagers had died, while another was critically wounded and the last was in stable condition. Following the incident, more than 100 police officers rushed to the school to provide assistance, according to NBC News.
Parents in Evergreen gathered outside Bergen Meadow Elementary School nearby while waiting to be reunited with their children. One parent, Wendy Nueman, said her 15-year-old daughter, who is a sophomore at Evergreen High School, did not answer he phone right away after the shooting.
Nueman said that when her child finally called her back, she was using a borrowed phone. The daughter simply told her mother that she was fine but had trouble talking. She was apparently holding back tears at the time.
On top of the three students initially transferred to the hospital, authorities said a fourth student was brought, but with an unknown injury. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis later released a statement saying he was "devastated" by the tragic incident, ABC News reported.
A Tragic Incident
Following the shooting, Evergreen High School was quickly placed into lockdown as authorities swept through the campus. Kelley added that the incident was the "scariest thing you'd think could ever happen."
Officials are still investigating the shooter's motive for the attack, what led to the shooting, and whether the victims and the suspect knew each other personally. Police officers are also looking into the teenage shooter's home, locker, and car while searching for a possible motive.
The Jefferson Public School District's superintendent, Tracy Dorland, said they cannot pretend that this is just another tragic incident. She noted that the pain of this attack "reopens old wounds," as per the New York Times.
