At least seven, possibly eight victims were injured Tuesday, May 7, in a shooting at a school in suburban Denver, authorities said.
Douglas County Undersheriff Holly Nicholson-Kluth said two suspects are in custody in the shooting at the STEM School in Highlands Ranch, which covers K-12.
“We have multiple students that have been injured,” she said.
The shooting started in the middle school just before 2 p.m., Nicholson-Kluth said. A school official called authorities to report that shots were fired, she said.
“Over the next few minutes, quite a few shots were fired,” she said.
Police and sheriff’s deputies were on the scene almost immediately, she said.
“As officers were arriving at the school they could still hear gunshots,” Nicholson-Kluth said.
Nicholson-Kluth said authorities don’t know at this point if the suspected shooters were students.
Unstable situation, shots fired at STEM school at Ridgeline and Plaza. Avoid area. Media go to north side of AMC
— DC Sheriff (@dcsheriff) May 7, 2019
Though authorities initially said they were looking for a possible third suspect, Nicholson-Kluth said they are no longer looking for another suspect.
“This is a good community. It’s usually very quiet, extremely low crime rate,” said the undersheriff, who has been with the department 30 years.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in a statement that he is “monitoring the situation in real time.”
“We are making all of our public safety resources available to assist the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department in their effort to secure the site and evacuate the students. We are monitoring the situation in real time. The heart of all Colorado is with the victims & their families,” Polis said.
We are making all of our public safety resources available to assist the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department in their effort to secure the site and evacuate the students. We are monitoring the situation in real time. The heart of all Colorado is with the victims & their families.
— Jared Polis (@GovofCO) May 7, 2019
Authorities urged the public to avoid the area.
The STEM School has about 1,800 students, the undersheriff said. It is located about seven miles from Columbine High School, which is located in Littleton, Colorado.
On April 20, 1999, two students killed 12 of their classmates and one teacher in a mass shooting at Columbine High.
Douglas County Schools were closed April 17 as authorities scrambled to find an armed Florida teen they said was infatuated with the Columbine massacre. The woman, authorities said, made threats before she traveled to Colorado, where she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Epoch Times Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
