Colorado School Shooter ID'd as 'Radicalized' 16-Year-Old Student By Christine Pelisek 145

The shooter who opened fire at a high school in Colorado wounding two students and killing himself has been identified as 16-year-old Desmond Holly, authorities said.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the teen died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The shooting occurred at 12:24 p.m. MT on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colo., a town about 30 miles southwest of Denver. More than 100 law enforcement personnel responded to the school following the reports of the shooting.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sept. 11, Jacki Kelley, a public information officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said Holly had been “radicalized by some extremist network,” per Denver7.

Holly, who had taken a bus to school that morning, used a revolver in the attack and had “quite a bit of ammunition,” Kelley said, according to the outlet.

“The suspect’s gun was fired a lot,” Kelley said. “The reason we have so many crime scenes is because we have windows that were shot up, we have lockers that were shot up. We have spent rounds, unspent rounds. It’s a huge area.”

The attack appeared to be both “random and targeted,” Kelley said, according to CPR News.

One of the victims was shot inside the school while the other was shot outside, Kelley said, per the New York Times. Both of those students remain in critical condition at separate hospitals in the area, according to Denver7.

Kelley said lives were saved because of how the students and staff handled the incident.  

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“They did their job,” she said. “They did it well. And lives were saved yesterday because of the actions they took during their lockdown drill … I do know that he tried to gain access to areas that were locked down and those teachers and those students did their job and took into account what they learned, and it kept them safe.”

“He came up against a roadblock on many of those doors,” she added, according to Denver7. “He couldn’t get to those kids. So, there’s not enough to be said for the work [of] the teachers, the coaches, the staff, the students. Lots of kids ran. But the ones who didn’t were locked down and cared for. So, really, really proud of those people today.”

She added that investigators are in contact with Holly’s parents and that they have been cooperative, per the outlet.

“My heart is with the students, families, and entire Evergreen community after today’s tragic shooting,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a post on X following the incident. “No young person should have to carry this kind of trauma, and help is available.”