One Student Dead and 7 Injured After 2 People Allegedly Open Fire at K-12 STEM School in Colorado

A student is dead and seven more injured after a shooting at a K – 12 school located south of Denver, local police say.

Two suspects, an adult male and a juvenile male who are believed to be students, are currently in custody, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a press conference late Tuesday.

According to a tweet from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, authorities received reports that shots were fired at the STEM School in Highlands Ranch right before 2 pm.

Tuesday evening the sheriff’s office confirmed that one 18-year-old student had died.

“It is with extreme sadness that we can confirm that 1 student at the STEM School was killed in today’s #stemshooting incident. The immediate family has been notified. Douglas County Coroner Jill Romann has not officially identified the student is stating it’s an 18 year old male,” the sheriff’s office said in a tweet.

At an earlier press conference, Douglas County Undersheriff Holly Nicholson Kluth said the investigation was ongoing and no motive had emerged as of yet.

“We are likely to have a criminal prosecution in this case,” Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock stated in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “We are working closely with the district attorney,” he said, noting that he was not able to release much additional information at this time.

However, he did provide an update on the condition of the victims, stating that some of them are in critical condition, some are in surgery, and some are in stable condition.

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He stated that one of the suspects was carrying a handgun.

A mother named Kelley Paulson told KMGH that her sixth-grade son, Christian, reported seeing a “bunch of kids running out and saying ‘school shooter, school shooter.”

“I tried to run with my life but I’m out of breath,” Christian said, according to KMGH.

Reports indicate that the school did not have a resource officer assigned to it.

According to its website, the STEM School is a free public charter school that teaches kindergarten through 12th grade. It has more than 1,800 students, with more than 500 of its students of elementary age, KMGH reported.

Calls to a spokesperson at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office were not immediately returned.

In a statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, “The heart of all Colorado is with the victims and their families.”