Updated at 3:35 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
The teenager who opened fire at his classmates before shooting himself was “radicalized” online, according to authorities.
Police began receiving 911 calls about an active shooter inside the halls of Evergreen High School around 12:30 p.m., Wednesday — lunchtime for many of the students. In the minutes that followed, Holly, who had ridden the bus to the school that morning, fired multiple rounds in multiple places both inside and behind the school, shooting two students before turning the gun on himself. He died later at the hospital on Wednesday night.
Authorities have identified the teen shooter as 16-year-old Desmond Holly.
“He had to keep reloading. He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire and reload. This went on and on, and as he did that, he tried to find new targets and he came up against a roadblock on many of those doors. He couldn’t get to those kids, so there’s not enough to be said for the work that the teachers, the coaches, the staff, the students,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Jacki Kelley said. “Lots of kids ran, but the ones who didn’t were locked down and they were being cared for. So really, really proud of those people.”
“I have to believe when you bring a gun to school and you continue to fire and reload and fire and reload that you are on a mission. We are grateful that he was less successful, but we’re devastated that he was successful at all,” she said.
The two victims were sent to St. Anthony Hospital. One is in critical condition, and neither have been released from the hospital.
Matthew Silverstone, an 18-year-old student at the school, is one of the students who was shot.
“The family appreciates the community’s concern and support, but as we remain focused on our loved one’s recovery, we respectfully request privacy as we continue to heal and navigate the road ahead,” Silverstone’s family said in a statement.
Courtesy of Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
After Holly began firing, many students fled the school — some ran to a nearby neighborhood where they knocked on the homes asking for shelter. Others stayed in the school where faculty and staff followed lockdown procedures, hiding in classrooms and barricading doors.
Kelley says while it is still unclear whether the victims were targeted, Holly’s attack appears to be both “random and targeted,” based on the number of rounds he fired.
Authorities still do not know how Holly obtained the weapon, but say his family is cooperating with the investigation. As of Thursday morning, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received a warrant for Holly’s phone, locker, and his family’s home.
CPR’s Alejandro Alonso Galva, Haylee May, and Sandy Battulga contributed reporting.
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