An 18-year-old was killed and eight people were injured after two students opened fire at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Littleton, CO, on Tuesday afternoon. The victim who was killed was identified as student Kendrick Castillo. His classmates said Castillo died while lunging at one of the shooters, which allowed other students to escape.
Authorities said the two suspects are in custody. "This is a terrible event. This is something that no one wants to have happen in their community," Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said in a press conference Tuesday. "Two individuals walked into the STEM School, got deep inside the school, and engaged students in two separate locations."
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One suspect has been identified as Devon Erickson, 18. The name of the second suspect has not been released because he is underage. Authorities have not identified a motive yet.
There are more than 1,850 students at STEM School Highlands Ranch, a public charter school which covers kindergarten to 12th grade. Classes have been canceled for the remainder of the week. STEM was one of the hundreds of schools in the Denver area that closed in mid-April after a Florida woman made threats ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting. The woman, 18-year-old Sol Pais, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted shotgun wound. Columbine High School, where two students murdered 12 students and one teacher in 1999, is just a short drive away from STEM.
The parents of 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo confirm that the high school senior was the student killed in Tuesday’s shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch. A witness tells CNN that Castillo was shot while rushing a shooter and credited Castillo with saving several lives. pic.twitter.com/Xu7keSUEKL
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 8, 2019
Gov. Jared Polis offered his condolences on Twitter. "I'm absolutely heartbroken to learn that a STEM School student was killed in the shooting today," he wrote. "I cannot imagine the grief and horror that the family is dealing with. Our deepest condolences go out to the family, the community, and everyone impacted by this senseless act of violence."
The STEM shooting happened just days after a gunman killed two and injured four at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a man opened fire at a synagogue in Poway, CA, on the last day of Passover, killing one congregant and injuring three others, including an 8-year-old girl.