Colorado school shooting updates: STEM school to be closed this week after 1 dead, 8 injured - USA TODAY

Trevor Hughes and Ryan W. Miller USA TODAY

Published 6:53 AM EDT May 8, 2019

DENVER – One student is dead and eight others injured after two of their classmates opened fire at a suburban Denver STEM school on Tuesday.

Superintendent Thomas S. Tucker said in a letter to parents that STEM School Highlands Ranch, a public charter school with more than 1,850 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, will be closed for the remainder of the week.

"This is a terrible event," Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. "This is something that nobody wants to happen in their community."

Two shooting suspects are in custody. One is an male juvenile and the other was identified by police as Devon Erickson, 18.

Here's what we know Wednesday:

What happened?

Spurlock said the suspects opened fire in two separate classrooms. Police responded before 2 p.m., arriving quickly because there is a law enforcement substation nearby.

More: 1 dead, 8 injured in shooting at Denver STEM school; 2 students in custody

The two suspects were arrested after a struggle but were not injured, Spurlock said. Deputies recovered at least one handgun from the suspects, he added.

Robert Helfer, 13, was in math class when he heard a disturbance.

"Everyone thought it was a theater play at first. Then when we just started hearing banging and gunshots and cursing," the seventh-grader said, his eyes red, his shaking hands twisting a plastic water bottle. "There was a body by the door when the police officer came to get us."

Outside the school after the shooting, many parents still in work uniforms held tight to their sobbing children. Residents in the area described a scene of confusion and worry.

Who are the victims?

All of the shooting victims are students ages 15 and older. The male student who died was 18 years old, the sheriff tweeted Tuesday.

As of Tuesday evening, two of the injured were in serious condition, two were in stable condition and one was in good condition, area hospitals said. Three of the injured have been discharged, Littleton Adventist Hospital spokeswoman Wendy Forbes told USA TODAY. 

What's next in the investigation?

Authorities were waiting for a search warrant to inspect a suspect's car at the school and their homes.

"We're going to investigate that and we will get to the bottom of it to figure out how and what has occurred," Spurlock said.

The sheriff said in a tweet that it would not be releasing photos at this time "as it could jeopardize this critical on-going invest."

This community has experienced shootings before

About 8 miles away, Columbine High School is located in an adjacent community south of Denver.

The shooting Tuesday came less than a month after the 20th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine left 13 people dead.

"Tragically, this community and those surrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts of violence," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting, Deere added.

Las month, Douglas County School District, which includes the STEM school, cancelled classes during an FBI manhunt for a woman "infatuated" with the Columbine shooting.

Andrea Pedatto, 46, was installing a ceiling fan at her nearby home when she got the news her son’s school was under attack. 

“I wasn’t panicking because they hadn’t given any details yet. It’s hard when you don’t know,” she said. “This is Colorado. We have school shootings.”

Contributing: Kristin Lam, Mike James and The Associated Press.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/08/colorado-school-shooting-stem-school-closed-week-more-updates/1138817001/

2019-05-08 10:23:00Z
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