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December 13, 2013 01:25 PM UTC

BREAKING: School Shooting At Arapahoe High School

  • 58 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #3: A statement now from Gov. John Hickenlooper:

​This is an unspeakable horror and something no child, no family should have to endure. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Arapahoe High School community and those affected by this senseless act of violence. We thank law enforcement and first responders for their swift work. All of Colorado is with you.

—–

UPDATE #2: Arapahoe Sheriff's Department now reporting that the shooter is dead.

—–

UPDATE: The Denver Post's Ryan Parker reports via Twitter that two students have been shot injured in addition to the shooter. The condition of the victims and the shooter is not yet known.

—–

We interrupt our political coverage for this breaking report from CBS4's Tim Wieland:

We'll update with details as they become available. Our thoughts are with Arapahoe High School students, teachers, and families.

UPDATE: FOX 31's Will Holden:

As of 1 p.m., the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s office had confirmed two individuals were injured during a shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial on Friday afternoon.

The confirmation from the sheriff’s office came after emergency scanner traffic indicated there was an active shooter and a fire at the Centennial are high school, and that at least one student had been critically injured.

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58 thoughts on “BREAKING: School Shooting At Arapahoe High School”

  2. @ColoradoDUIAtty on Twitter is live-tweeting from the Sheriff's audio feed. Sounds like suspect is apprehended and had a Molotov cocktail on him. SWAT is clearing the building now. Thankful for our first responders who drill school shooting situations regularly now and apprehended the shooter before any fatalities. 

    1. Spoke too soon, "shooter in custody" was dead by self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to newer reports. Very sad that any parent lost a child, and praying for the injured children.

  6. Good luck, RMGO. Explain this one away.. Explain why a minor can take a gun and kill people. 

    Guns needs to be destroyed and only used by lawful authorities. Use a stun gun, make a point.

    Killing is not the answer. RMGO is probably going to get clobbered over this, plus more Republicans are going to be abandoning the premise of the 2nd Amendment is sacred.

     

          1. If you consider pointing out that you are the first the first to parrot gun-lobby talking points after a tragedy (Sandy Hook, AHS) impugning, then maybe you should stop doing that.

          2. Gun strokers have no priveleges here. None. Ever. Mr. Faden, may I suggest that you fucking move to Wyoming if you don't like the new gun laws, asshole?

            1. Hawkeye-X, your comment is duly noted, and when given the fact that you are constantly advocating for the imprisonment, prosecution, and general persecution of anybody who disagrees with you, given the weight it is deserves. 

      2. I, for one, am sick of effing stop signs.  Just the other day I read where someone ran a stop sign and hit another car.  It was terrible and it could have been worse.  People have been known to die in car wrecks that the over-bearing stop sign laws did nothing–I repeat: NOTHING–to prevent.  You and your 'civil' society nanny state with its stop sign laws. 

      3. Who would have thought Moderatus would be a stand out for class and grace on this particular thread? We don't have to agree with Modster's stand or anyone else's on gun issues but we should take note of the excellent time and place recognition and lack of boorishness and shrillness Modster demonstrates. And may God, the Force, good karma, positive vibes from loved ones and well wishers, or plain dumb luck, whichever you prefer, bring that little girl in critical condition through all of this whole and as fully recovered as possible.

    1. We never ever said that the new gun laws will stop all shootings. These gun nuts want nothing to be done. They want the status quo and I get the feeling these gun nuts don't care about mass shootings or people dying from gun violence at all. They are soulless sickos.

    1. Appreciate the comment Moderatus.

      This is a time of sadness again and for reflection on how we can work together to help build a more peaceful world and that doesn't mean confiscationg everyone's guns.

      1. Agree. This pile on is unseemly, especially considring that here isn't any legislation that could prevent a teen from picking up an unsecured shotgun in his own home.

      2. Too little, too late. Moderatus.

        Your sin is your Republican identity and the strong embracement of the Second Amendment, identifying yourself as a gun stroker and a Tea Bagger.

        It is now my fervent hope that your ilk is starting to shrink and cease to exist. And for you to think about all of your stances. And ask if you agree with them.

  11. It's time to recall Republicans who opposed common sense public safety measures. 

    Ironic how this happened the DAY Rachel Zenzinger (filling Evie Hudak's seat) was sworn in. 

  13. I was driving south from Arapahoe on University when I noticed cars in front of me turning off and around. When I saw all the police and fire vehicles at the school and was directed to turn off my heart sank. The side streets I turned onto east of University were full of parents on foot and in cars going toward the school. One of them told me there had been a shooting which I was hearing nothing about on NPR. Switched to local news where it was being described as still ongoing, though later we knew it was all over by then. 

    Didn't realize how shaken I was until I later got out of my car and felt rubbery. My kid was in Heritage during Columbine which is the next High school district west. I thought this might be Columbine all over again but in our own Littleton School district. Columbine was Jeffco, different county, different school system, different law enforcement, different everything. This was us.

    Two things:

    1) Huge relief that this wasn't another Columbine mass shooting and it looks like only the shooter, a very young kid, is tragically dead. That may sound harsh but it's better than other kids and teaches being dead.

    2) Honestly, isn't this more of a school security than gun control issue? The kid walked into that school with a shotgun. None of the recent legislation could have prevented a kid from getting his hands on a shotgun if one was unsecured in his home, though we don't know yet where he got it. 

    Do I agree that gun control legislation is therefore useless? No way. But let's face facts. Lots of homes have unsecured guns and teens can get their hands on them regardless of any legislation passed or currently being contemplated. It's a very deep, very broad culture wide problem and gun control is never going to be the whole answer. Especially here in the US where we're already so awash in guns, plenty for everyone even if no one ever sold another one.

    I don't think we're doing such a great job of socializing our young, especially males. I think too many of them live in a virtual world of internet craziness and violent games with very little real interaction with the flesh and blood world of other people, of nature, of real contact, of just going out and playing with other kids, no grownups involved, and learning how to deal with conflicts and winning and losing and disagreeing and making up from a young age. Gun control isn't gong to be a magic cure all for what ails us. 

  15. Earlier it was being reported that the student who was shot was in serious condition. That's usually pretty OK for a shooting victim. Now we know it's a young girl in critical condition. Big difference. Lets all hope and pray that she makes it and is able to recover completely. They're focusing on a student's home in Highlands Ranch. Not in the Littleton school district but schools these days schools pretty routinely take out of district students. Not that it matters. 

  17. I do hope the kids in hospital are all right. But I confess, the second thought that crossed my mind, when I saw the first post about this was, "I wonder if this will be front page above the fold in tomorrow's Post or if it will be bumped to an inside page so they can run some b.s., feel-good, human interest crap, as usual." I suppose that makes me a cynic, but I've about given up on them for real news. What I get here is much better and more timely. My first thought was, like the petunia in "The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy "Oh no! Not again."

    1. My first thought was something along the lines of, "I'm glad it wasn't worse . . . "

      My second thought was,  "I can't believe how badly screwed up things have gotten, that I would have this first thought to such a terrible tragedy . . ."

      god help us . . . 

      1. Amen. And I must say wondering where it would appear in the paper never crossed my mind. But now that it's been brought up I can't imagine anyone seriously worrying that it would be buried in the inside pages.  Wow.

        1. I don't know, BlueCat. Some pretty important stories have been pushed to inside pages in recent years. Especially on Saturdays. The new editors of the Post seem intent upon a happy front page, regardless of world events. I think it may be that the readership is skewing older and the editors seem to think older people want happy talk.

          1. Nothing like this is ever… ever… treated the way you describe and wasn't this time. Politically important stories are often ignored but never a school shooting like this.Come on. That was a pretty silly concern. Especially since it was so extensively covered  Friday by the national media on all the news channels.

  18. Kinda shines new light on the politics of recalls…and elections have consequences…This shooting illustrates the contemp of the NRA, and their supporters to Life, Liberty, and the rest of the pre-amble…and Constitution…How about freedom from the tryanny of the 2nd amendment? what? the 2nd was supposed to prevent tryanny…but like any law, there are two sides…and the side of moderation and lawfulness has been killed by the other side…shot through and through with lies and propaganda…

  19. So here we go again.  Easy access to guns allows a bright, talented, outspoken and popular, immature young man to believe his best option to find a long term solution to a short term problem is to attempt to kill the source of his frustrations, shoot an innocent young girl and then, apparently believing there is no other option, kill himself.

    Despite the fact the shooter was practiced at debate, he may not have mastered the experienced debater's tools for critical thinking and keeping a distance from,  and proper perspective about the positions they argue, 

    The young's perception of time is such that what an adult experiences as a fleeting moment, youth experiences as an eternity.  Thus a personal crisis such as being removed from the debate team, presumably for disciplinary reasons, is perceived as a permanent, life-altering loss.  And so for even one who believed in gun control laws, the young man grabs the most powerful gun within his reach and tells himself that if his life is over, he'll end that of his nemesis as well.

    We may never truly understand what turbulent thoughts and emotions were roiling inside his head, but the fact that there likely was not a trigger lock or gun safe available to slow access to the shotgun in his home contributed to the speed of action once his tragically impetuous choice was made.

  21. Davie,

    The thoughts you expressed are the ones that have been running through my head all day.   We had the confluence of immaturity, personal problems and access to lethal weapons.   I pray for the full recovery of his victim, yet I also grieve for the young man and his family.  But for an easily accessible shotgun, all of these individuals would be out shopping for  holiday gifts today.   Instead a young woman is in a hospital fighting for her life and the parents of the shooter are shopping for a shroud.

    1. All I can say is — Parents — the best way to protect your family is to get rid of the gun(s) in your home.  Barring that, lock them up in a safe place.  If you can't bear to go just that far, then at least keep them unloaded with the ammunition hidden or locked up.

      2. Davie, while that is generally very good advice, it wouldn't have helped at Arapahoe.  While you have to be 21 to buy a handgun in Colorado, you can buy a shotgun at age 18.  The shooter legally purchased his shotgun on December 6.

        http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/arapahoe-high-school-colorado-gunman-legally-bought-weapon-sheriff-says

        I'm not sure that loophole will ever get closed.  We heard a lot during the gun control debates last legislative session about people being old enough to serve in the armed forces but not old enough to buy their own firearms.

        1. ~~I'm not sure that loophole will ever get closed.

          Concur. This wasn't a situation related to the gun laws. How would anyone have guessed, from the descriptions I have heard, that this kid would go off? Just another case of conflict resolution by violence…I wonder where he picked up such an idea? 

          1. Absolutely. And he bought the gun legally in the usual way which means he must have passed the background check. Once again, it's foolish to argue that all gun violence is going to be fixed by any legislation or that it all occurs because of a lack thereof or that the answer is every good guy carrying a gun. 

            The entire episode was over in 80 seconds and so it's not as if it could have been prevented even by every person in the building being armed. Good guys with guns will never be able to absolutely protect all innocents in this kind of situation any more than gun control legislation will. 

            The conclusions those on every side of this issue are so quick to jump to and the insults we are so quick to scream at each other accomplish nothing. This isn't a simple problem and there isn't a simple solution but the only reasonable thing to do is to continue to try to find ways to mitigate the risk of these kinds of events occurring.

            One thing has been brought out. The shooter did on several occasions talk about killing this teacher and those threats weren't taken seriously. Of course lots of people quite harmlessly say things like "I'd like to kill so and so" and don't mean anything by it. It may be that we've reached a point where we can no longer afford to make that assumption and preventative action must be taken, at least temporarily, every time someone, especially a student or employee, is stupid enough to make such threats and even though most of those threats will turn out to be nothing more than letting off steam.

            We may also have to consider at least enough security at our schools to prevent anyone from walking in unchallenged, especially someone openly carrying a weapon. But whatever we consider, we have to stop screaming past each other and start examining options in a rational way. We all have to be sufficiently open minded to take all suggested options into consideration and try our best to evaluate them objectively.  Insults about "libtards" trampling freedom or gun rights advocates all being mindless thugs won't get us anywhere. The grown up majority on both sides have to start talking to, not past, each other. 

             

              

            1. we have to stop screaming past each other and start examining options in a rational way. We all have to be sufficiently open minded to take all suggested options into consideration and try our best to evaluate them objectively – See more at: 

              Fair point, BC.  Here's my question:  Can we really afford cheap guns and ammunition?  For an industry that is estimated to be about $32 billion a year in gross sales, it accounts for upwards of $174 billion in ancillary costs — death and injury have long term costs both direct and indirect for medical, insurance, police, prisons, legal, rehabilitation, loss of economic output, etc.

              Whether you own a gun or not, it costs every American $564 a year to underwrite the guns and ammo industry.  I think buyers should carry their own weight through either carrying liability insurance on their weapons, or with the premiums collected through ammunition sales.  Why not charge a tax at the time of purchase?  Nobody, least of all gun-rights advocates ever said freedom was free.

              Here's where I got my numbers:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2013/01/14/how-guns-and-violence-cost-every-american-564-in-2010/

        2. Very true.  I was also surprised to learn there is no waiting period to take the weapon home.

          from what I read, he bought the gun one week earlier, and the ammunition the morning of the attack. The gun isn't exactly cheap, nor would be the ammo.  But apparently within the means of a middle class student.  That's another idea that should be considered — why are guns so damn affordable, given the outrageous costs they impose on all of us?

          I pray for the innocent young girl and her family who will bear the costs of this senseless act for the rest of her life.  I also give thanks that the shooter, whether by choice or due to the heroic quick reaction of students, teachers and law enforcement, did not continue his indiscriminate firing.

           

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