Denver-area high school shooting suspect was ‘radicalized,’ officials say
CNN Newsource
Originally Published: 10 SEP 25 15:30 ET
Updated: 11 SEP 25 17:52 ET
By Emma Tucker, CNN
(CNN) — The suspected shooter who critically wounded two students at Evergreen High School in Colorado during their third week of classes this semester appeared to have been “radicalized by some extreme network,” officials said Thursday.
The suspect, a student at the school, took the school bus that morning and brought with him a significant amount of ammunition, said Jacki Kelley, public information officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. He roamed the campus, searching for new targets, as he shot out windows and lockers covering a “huge area” of the school, she said.
“He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire and reload,” Kelley said. “This went on and on.”
But the suspect, identified on Thursday as 16-year-old Desmond Holly, was thwarted by locked classroom doors, preventing further tragedy, Kelley said.
Over 100 law enforcement officers swarmed the scene after authorities arrived within two minutes of the first 911 call reporting gunfire about halfway through the school day, and were in contact with the shooter within five minutes, as more than 900 students remained on lockdown while officers cleared each room, police said. Some of the students ran, while others huddled in classrooms together during lockdown, according to Kelley.
In the end, Holly was taken to the hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and later died, officials said.
For most students, their day ended waiting at a nearby reunification center for their loved ones as the high school tucked away in the mountains of Evergreen became a series of crime scenes both inside and outside of the school.
Law enforcement has obtained warrants for the suspect’s phone, home and locker, said Kelley.
Investigators are also working to interview many of the students who witnessed what happened to piece together how the school became the site of the 47th shooting that took place at a school in the United States so far this year – 24 of which were on college campuses and 23 on K-12 school grounds.
The tragedy took place less than an hour after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot at an event at Utah Valley University.
Colorado is a state known for several devastating shootings since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School – from Aurora, where 12 people were killed at a movie theater in 2012, to an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs where five were fatally shot and the mass shooting at King Soopers in Boulder, which killed 10.
Suspect was ‘radicalized by some extreme network’
Two students are in critical condition at nearby hospitals, and their families plan to release photos and statements soon, said Kelley.
The high school is served by part-time school resource officers who are Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies while its full-time school resource officer is on medical leave, Kelley said. A school resource officer was not at the school at the time of the shooting, as the deputy left campus around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday to respond to a traffic incident, Kelley said.
The search warrants for the suspect’s phone and home have revealed early indications he had been “radicalized by some extreme network,” said Kelley, adding more details would likely be released at a later time.
It’s not yet clear if the shooting was entirely targeted or random, but Kelley noted “it could be a bit of both.” She was not able to provide any information about how the suspect obtained the handgun or who owned it.
The grandfather of twin brothers attending 10th grade at the school – who were not injured in the shooting – said he was in shock after learning his family was touched by gun violence for the second time within five years.
Mike Webb, whose ex-wife Xiaojie Tan was one of eight people killed in the 2021 Atlanta-area spa shootings, said the boys’ father texted him that an active shooter was at the school, but the brothers were safe.
“One of the boys was in the main hallway when the shooting broke out and he just ran,” Webb said. “The other boy was outside of the music room, and he ran too, but he ran into police who had weapons drawn.”
‘We always say not again, and here we are’
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are assisting with processing crime scenes at the school, which is located roughly 28 miles southwest from Denver.
“This is the scariest thing you could ever think that could happen and these parents were really frightened and so were the kids,” said Kelley. “And I know we always say not again, and here we are.”
Colorado Governor Jared Polis said his administration is offering to help in the days ahead “to get children and families the resources needed to cope with this terrible act of violence.”
“This kind of violence has absolutely no place in Colorado or anywhere, especially our schools, where kids should feel safe to learn and grow,” Polis said. “No family should ever fear for their child’s life as they send them to school.”
Senator Michael Bennet said he was “horrified” by the shooting and thanked law enforcement officers for their “swift response.”
“Our children deserve to grow up in a country free from the trauma and terror of senseless gun violence,” he said Thursday.
The news of an active shooter at the school was Webb’s greatest fear realized, he said. He worried every day about his grandsons’ school being the next target of a shooting, but felt reassured by its tight-knit community.
“I thought, at least they’re up in the mountains and it’s unlikely anything like this would happen. And sure enough it did,” he said.
Webb said he spoke with one of the brothers, who was clearly shaken up, and told him he understands what they will be dealing with in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I told him none of us should have to go through this,” said Webb. “I said this is the world we live in and thank God you guys are OK.”
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