One of the students shot at Evergreen High School remained in critical condition Thursday morning, hospital officials said.
An unidentified teenager shot two of his classmates at the Jefferson County high school on Wednesday before shooting himself, according to the sheriff’s office. He later died from his injuries at the CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood.
One victim remains in critical condition at St. Anthony Hospital, Dr. Brian Blackwood said in a Thursday morning news briefing. The second was stable and transferred to a different facility Wednesday night, said Blackwood, the hospital’s trauma program medical director.
Blackwood said the Lakewood hospital, which is the closest Level 1 trauma center to the school, only had five to 10 minutes to prepare to receive a then-unknown number of victims from Evergreen.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers responded Wednesday to Evergreen High School at 29300 Buffalo Park Road, after a 911 caller reported an active school shooting at 12:24 p.m., Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.
The first sheriff’s deputies were on the scene in minutes, Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli said.
Sheriff’s officials are still investigating the events leading up to the shooting and where in the school the shooting took place.
The suspected shooter has not been publicly identified, but investigators were spotted searching the teenager’s home near Corwina Park just outside Kittredge, roughly 6½ miles from the high school, according to reporting by Denver7.
That search started at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to Denver7. Lights flashed inside the home as investigators took photos and appeared to collect evidence.
It’s unknown what law enforcement found inside the home.
Kelley said Wednesday that investigators would also examine the suspect’s locker, car and social media.
Evergreen High School will be closed the rest of the week, Jefferson County Public Schools announced. Another eight schools in the Conifer and Evergreen areas were also closed Thursday.
A resource and information center will operate for two days out of Bergen Meadow Elementary’s old building at 1928 S. Hiwan Drive, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. That building was the reunification point for families and Evergreen students on Wednesday.
The center will host victim advocates, mental health professionals, victim compensation representatives and school personnel from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, sheriff’s officials said. It’s open to all students, faculty, families and community members.
It’s unclear when students will be able to re-enter the high school to retrieve their personal belongings, but that information will be available at the elementary school, sheriff’s officials said.
Anyone who witnessed the shooting and hasn’t yet spoken with investigators is asked to come to the resource center to do so, according to the sheriff’s office.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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