3 teens critically wounded in shooting at suburban Denver high school, including suspected shooter
Update: 11th 2025 3:30 PST - DENVER (AP) A 16-year-old student opened fire with a revolver at Evergreen High School in suburban Denver on Wednesday, critically wounding two classmates before taking his own life, authorities said.
The suspect, identified as Desmond Holly, fired multiple rounds both inside and outside the school during the lunchtime attack. One victim was shot indoors and another outside, officials said.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley confirmed that Holly shot himself on campus and later died. Kelley added that investigators believe he had been “radicalized by some extremist network,” though details about the group or the nature of the influence were not immediately released.
Authorities said Holly carried large amounts of ammunition and fired repeatedly while reloading, but secured doors prevented him from entering areas where students were sheltering. Investigators later recovered spent and unspent rounds throughout the building.
Both victims remained in critical condition Thursday. One was identified as 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone. His family released a statement thanking the community for its support and requesting privacy during his recovery. The second victim has not yet been publicly named.
Parents and students described the chaos as the shooting unfolded. Ines McCanna said her 15-year-old son was in the cafeteria when the gunfire began. He and his friends fled the building and eventually sheltered at a nearby fire station. Her older son, a junior, was off campus and safe.
“Until they were in my hands, it didn’t go away — the fear,” she said.
Investigators are reviewing Holly’s home, backpack, and locker. Authorities are also considering whether his parents could face criminal charges for allowing him access to the firearm.
Responding deputies located Holly within five minutes of arriving. No law enforcement officers fired their weapons during the incident.
By Thursday, cars belonging to students and staff remained parked outside the school as a command post was set up near the entrance. Community members placed flowers at fences near the campus in support of the victims.
Please note: This article was originally written by the Associated Press and has been rewritten by 760 News Media to help readers better understand the situation in full. It has been summarized and clarified for easier reading.
September 10th, 2025 3:46 PST - DENVER (AP) — Three teens were critically wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a high school in the foothills of suburban Denver, including the suspected shooter, authorities said.
The shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, about 30 miles west of Denver, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.
It is not clear what led up to the shooting or how the suspected shooter, believed to be a student at the school, was shot. None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting is believed to have fired any shots, Kelley said.
The shooting happened on school grounds, but it wasn’t immediately known whether it was inside the school building, she said. Investigators don’t believe there is any further threat to the community, she said.
All three teens taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, were shot, CEO Kevin Cullinan said. The high school with more than 900 students is largely surrounded by forest. It is about a mile from the center of Evergreen, which has a population of 9,300 people.
Over 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said. A 1999 school shooting at Jefferson County’s Columbine High killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from her injuries in the shooting.
Parents of Evergreen High School students were told to go to an elementary school to reunite with their children.
“This is the scariest thing you could ever think that could happen, and these parents were really frightened and so were the kids,” Kelley said.
