EVERGREEN, Colo. — Questions are still pouring in as the investigation continues in Wednesday’s shooting at Evergreen High School.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) on Friday alerted the public over ‘X’ to a remain patient as the investigation unfolds.
“We have shared all the releasable information we currently have. As additional information becomes releasable, we will share it on various platforms,” the post said in part.
The shooting at the high school on Wednesday left two students in critical condition. The 16-year-old shooter sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died of his injuries.
When Denver7 reached out on Friday to ask if the 16-year-old shooter’s parents were under investigation we didn’t hear back.
Zachary Newland, a criminal defense attorney in Evergreen, did have some insight into where a case like this could head in Colorado.
“What I think creative prosecutors and creative jurisdictions are doing is trying to in some ways push the legal envelope a little bit to make sure that we find accountability in different ways than before,” Newland said.
He said 20 years ago, parents of a school shooter may have never been charged. That’s evolving now.
“I can tell you in these situations, just as a member of the community, I think in some ways there’s going to be more of an itch to try to charge, or try to find legal accountability for the parents because when a community’s heart is broken like this, you reach out and there’s a sense of like well we have to hold someone accountable,” Newland said.
Newland has no ties to the investigation. He only commented from his perspective as a criminal defense attorney.
We also don’t know if investigators are looking to charge the parents, but when asked if they could be, a spokesperson for JCSO said, “I think everything is on the table when it comes to looking at this stiff investigation and where it leads us, and I think that they're aware of that as well, but we have not run into a roadblock with this family.”
That didn’t seem top of mind for community members in Evergreen, though, on Friday.
They’re focused on healing, and that was evident when walking into Wildflower Café.
“We’ve been mostly just getting together a lot. Kind of like this, but almost daily since it happened. And it’s just been good to talk about it and debrief about it,” Teiji Ohara said.
The Evergreen High School senior was sitting around a table with his friends including fellow senior Foster Easton.
“Telling the story just helps. You’re like yeah this is what happened. I don’t know. That’s helping me move on,” Easton added.
Their school was closed for the rest of the week after a student opened fire inside and outside the building. He injured two students before shooting himself.
Josh Work, Wildflower Café’s head chef and general manager, knows that’s a lot for any kid to work through. That’s why he opened his doors to the community and offered free pancakes and coffee.
“On the one hand I’m very happy to see the kids come here and hang out. On the other hand it’s really hard when I see the tears and the hugging,” Work said. “There’s never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food.”
Evergreen
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Across the street, the community support continued.
Around 2 p.m. Friday, a group of students and leaders with the Downtown Business Association gathered to place signs and plant flowers across the area.
“We’ve been gathering as businesses to figure out how we can just bring morale with our downtown and really support the community and just be able to involve the students and some of the business owners and just bring this message of support to people that drive through our town visiting and those who live here,” said Tara Ryan, part of the Downtown Business Association.
One of the students helping her was Tyler Guyton.
He told Denver7 students are grateful for what the community has done to help.
When asked “Who is Evergreen?” he made it clear it’s defined not by what happened on Wednesday, but what’s happening in the days that follow.
“It’s a melting pot of really caring people. We’ll all be there for each other but it’ll be a long road back,” Guyton said.
