The Denver Post reported that a shooting had occurred at Arapahoe High School around 1:00 p.m. local time. One hour later, it was announced during a press briefing on the scene that the suspect had been found dead inside the school, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Students heard multiple shots coming from the cafeteria around lunchtime, Post reporter Ryan Parker tweeted from outside the school, just moments after the incident unfolded.
The shooter wanted to confront a teacher, the sheriff’s office acknowledged during the presser, but the educator escaped the school uninjured before being approached. At least two others were hurt, however, including a student of around 15 or 16 years of age that was admitted to a local hospital with a gunshot wound, Denver’s 9News reported. The student is in critical condition, AP quoted a hospital spokesman as saying.
Around 40 minutes after the first reports surfaced, Parker added that eyewitnesses told him students were still locked inside the school’s classrooms. Jordan Steffen of the Post added that the students she interviewed outside the school heard three or four shots fired before they fled the building.