Student suspected of shooting 2 at Colorado school was radicalized, authorities say

DENVER — A 16-year-old boy who had been radicalized by an unspecified “extremist network” fired a revolver multiple times during an attack at a suburban Denver high school that wounded two students, authorities said Thursday.

Some students ran and others locked down during Wednesday’s shooting at Evergreen High School in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. One of the victims was shot inside the school and anther outside.

The suspect in Evergreen, student Desmond Holly, shot himself at the school and later died, said Jefferson County sheriff’s office spokesperson Jacki Kelley. The county was also the scene of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that killed 14 people.

The school resource officer was on medical leave and two part-time officers who now share the job were not present at the time, she said at a news conference. The officer working at the school that day had been sent earlier to a nearby accident.

Kelley said Holly had been “radicalized by some extremist network,” and suggested authorities came to that conclusion after examining the suspect’s home and phone.

But details on how he allegedly had been radicalized and by what group were not immediately released, with Kelley promising more information at a later date.

It also remained unclear if Holly knew the victims and had a dispute with them, or if they were shot randomly. Both were reported in critical condition Thursday.

Officials released a statement from the family of one of the victims, Matthew Silverstone, 18, expressing appreciation for the support they’ve received and requesting privacy as the family focuses on his recovery.

The other victim had not been publicly identified.

Kelley described a chaotic scene as the students sheltered in place or fled the 900-student campus, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Denver.

“He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire reload,” she said. “This went on and on.”

But the shooter was blocked by secured doors and couldn’t get into areas where students were sheltering, Kelley said. She added that Holly had lots ammunition.

“The reason we have so many crime scene areas inside is because we have windows shot out. We have lockers that were shot up. We’re finding spent rounds, unspent rounds. So it’s a huge area,” she said.

Investigators were searching the suspect’s room, his backpack and his locker. They also were in contact with the suspect’s parents.

Kelley said authorities would be looking at whether the parents should face any criminal charges for allowing him access to the gun.

Ines McCanna said her 15-year-old son was in the cafeteria eating lunch with friends when there was an announcement about an active shooter. Almost simultaneously, they heard shots and ran out of the school.

When no one was home at a nearby house to shelter them, they went to a fire station and waited to be picked up. McCanna said her other son, a junior, was eating lunch off campus and called to say he was safe.

“But honestly, until they were in my hands, it didn’t go away — the fear,” she said. “Those couple of seconds where you don’t know what’s going on are probably the worst you could have as a mom.”

None of the responding officers fired any shots, and they located the suspect with the self-inflicted gunshot wound within five minutes of arriving, Kelley said.

The Jefferson County school district’s former safety director, John McDonald, said Thursday that administrators worked in the decades since Columbine to develop an effective response to shootings. That included installing panic buttons in schools, building partnerships with law enforcement to ensure a quick response and protocols for staff and students to follow in an evacuation or lockdown.

“They are protocols that can make a difference,” McDonald said. Regarding the Evergreen shooting, he added, “From my perspective it was a successful response. But any time you’ve had shots fired in a school you’ve already lost.”

At the school, cars of students and staffers remained in the parking lot Thursday, with drivers blocked from entering. A command post was set up outside and authorities could be seen entering and leaving the school’s front entrance where the Colorado and U.S. flags were still flying.

Sila Reilly stopped by to lay flowers for the injured. Not able to get very close, she secured several bouquets of white flowers to a fence near the school’s baseball field.

“I’m tired of this being an everyday crisis,” said Reilly said, noting her son will soon attend a high school much like Evergreen in a nearby school district.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.