But Tuesday afternoon, the STEM school’s worst fears were realized when nine of its students were shot, one fatally, and two fellow students were being held as suspects.
“We know two individuals walked into the STEM school, got deep inside the school and engaged students in two separate locations,” Sheriff Tony Spurlock of Douglas County said at a news conference.
At 6:45 p.m., about five hours after the shooting, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office released a statement confirming that one of the nine who had been shot, an 18-year-old man, had died.
Late Tuesday, the sheriff’s office identified one of the suspects as Devon Erickson, 18, but said it would provide no further information about him because “we still have interviews to conduct and we want to make sure we have the most accurate information.”
Police tape was strung up outside the home where neighbors said Erickson’s family had lived since the late 1990s. A next-door neighbor who declined to be named described him as a quiet young man who sometimes deflected eye contact and played several musical instruments.
Spurlock said the suspects, who were armed with a handgun and other weapons, confronted law enforcement officers when they arrived. He said the suspects, Erickson and a juvenile, were not injured.
Spurlock said that neither suspect had been on law enforcement’s radar before the shooting and that the motive was unknown.
Littleton Adventist Hospital in Colorado said five people were transported there after Tuesday’s shooting. Two were in serious condition while three were discharged, the hospital said. Sky Ridge Medical Center said two children were taken there and were in stable condition. Children’s Hospital Colorado said one victim had been treated at its south campus and then released.
One parent said students had tried to stop the attack.
Brad Bialy said his oldest son, Brendan, a senior, told him that he was in class when gunfire erupted. Bialy said his son told him that two students entered the classroom, and one pulled a gun out of a guitar case.
He said his son and two friends tried to tackle the gunman, but one of the boys was shot in the chest. Other students tried to stanch the bleeding by putting pressure on his chest, Bialy said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.