On Wednesday morning at East High School in Denver, two school administrators were shot after a handgun was found on a student who was subject to daily searches.
The male, juvenile suspect is still at large and the weapon has not been recovered. The shooting occurred close to 10 a.m. in a location away from classrooms, and one of the administrators was critically injured and had to undergo surgery in a nearby hospital. The other victim is in stable condition. The police have identified the suspect and are confident they will be able to apprehend him.
The shooting follows the death of a student from the school who was shot while sitting in a car close to the school, which caused students to march to the Colorado state Capitol and demand stricter gun laws. At the time of the shooting, there were no school resource officers on the campus, but since then Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero has stated that two armed officers will be posted at East High School until the end of the school year.
The suspect had transferred from another district, and the reason for them being subjected to daily searches is unknown. Parents and students were gathered outside the school, expressing their frustration with the violence and the lack of school resource officers. One parent, Jess Haase, said her daughter, a senior, texted her during the lockdown and she was considering taking her daughter out of school for the upcoming weeks.
Denver Public Schools confirmed the victims were administrators. The shooting happened on the second anniversary of ten people being shot and killed at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.