Two male students armed with handguns burst into a Denver-area school and opened fire on Tuesday, killing one classmate and wounding eight before being taken into custody.
THEY OPENED FIRE IN TWO CLASSROOMS
Two surviving victims of the attack at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch, a Denver suburb, remained in serious condition, medical officials said. Others were stable or had been discharged from hospital.
An 18-year-old male was pronounced dead at the scene, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said a short time later. “Two individuals walked into the STEM school, got deep inside the school, and engaged students in two separate locations,” Spurlock said.
He said in a brief interview that the suspects, each armed with a handgun, opened fire in two separate classrooms. Devon Erickson, 18, was named as one of the suspects, while the other was identified only as a juvenile. The school serves students from kindergarten through to 12th grade.
The shooting occurred less than a month after the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in nearby Littleton, about 5 miles (8 km) from the Highlands Ranch school. Two Columbine students killed 13 people there in 1999 before committing suicide in what remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.