AURORA, Colo. — The school shooting in Evergreen — seriously injuring two students who are still hospitalized as of Sunday evening — has at least one other school district planning to review its safety protocols.
On Sept. 10, a gunman opened fire at Evergreen High School, hitting two students. The shooter was identified as Desmond Holly by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO). Holly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, JCSO said.
An 18-year-old student, Matthew Silverstone, was named as one of the two teenagers shot. According to a social media post by the sheriff's office, the identity of the second victim would not be released for the time being.
Those leading the investigation said lives were saved on Wednesday at Evergreen High School, despite the shooter firing several times with a revolver.
A quick reaction from teachers, students and staff locked the shooter out of many rooms in the building. JCSO reports that law enforcement was on scene within minutes of the initial report.
But there was no school resource officer (SRO) on campus during the emergency — something parents in the community had concerns about, voicing those as recently as the day before the shooting.
An online recording of minutes from an Evergreen High School Parent Teacher Student Association meeting detailed concerns from parents the day before the shooting about the lack of a SRO on campus. A parent asked the principal of the school, Skyler Artes, why there was not a permanent SRO at Evergreen High School.
According to the minutes, Artes claimed the community was "deprioritized" since they are considered a "small mountain town with less crime than the schools down the hill." Artes told parents to attend a school board meeting and request a SRO, the notes state.
Evergreen
PTA discussed lack of full-time SRO one day before Evergreen High shooting
A spokesperson with Aurora Public Schools (APS) told Denver7 they will "debrief the recent shooting in Evergreen" with the Aurora Police Department (APD), which provides SROs to its high schools.
The statement from APS continued to say, in part, "We are heartbroken that gun violence has impacted schools in our state yet again and we are grieving with our fellow students, families and educators in Jeffco Public Schools."
APS said it regularly reviews safety and security protocols to ensure schools are secure, while conducting frequent safety drills to prepare students and staff for emergency situations.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said there are reviews of the safety plan done periodically within APS, but believes this analysis will look different.
"This is going to be much more of a deeper dive, particularly how students get radicalized online... and what we can do to kind of test our current system against those threats, to see where we need to modify and change," Coffman said. "It's absolutely critical for us to do it at this time, and I think it would be negligent for us not to do it."
Denver7 asked Coffman if student internet searches, changes in behavior, or access to firearms would be considered as part of this review. Coffman was not certain what exactly law enforcement would do.
"Can we do better? And I think that we should always be asking ourselves that question, because these school shootings are such a horrible thing. What can we do to prevent them?" Coffman asked. "We can't be afraid to change our policy to make sure that we're addressing changing conditions."
Coffman believes the APS safety review will start soon.
Denver7 reached out to JeffCo Public Schools on Sunday, asking if there was a safety protocol review planned or for a response to the claims regarding the SRO issues, but did not receive a response before publishing this story.
