HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (AP) Two high school students shot and killed a classmate and injured eight others at a charter school in a Colorado community that just weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of one of the nations worst school shootings.
That Tuesday afternoons attack at STEM School Highlands Ranch happened just miles from Columbine High School was sure to raise questions about whether it was inspired by the 1999 massacre, but the answer was not immediately clear.
Douglas County sheriffs officials said Devon Erickson, 18, and a younger student walked into the STEM School Highlands Ranch through an entrance without metal detectors and opened fire with two handguns on students in two classrooms.
As gunfire echoed through the school, students hid or ran through the halls, some shouting.
Student Nui Giasolli told NBCs Today show she was in her British Literature class when Erickson came in late.
Giasolli said another student lunged at the shooter, giving the other students time to dive under the desks and flee to safety.
At least one student encountered the suspects during the shooting, Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. He did not elaborate.
Were going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school, Spurlock said.
He declined to identify the student who was shot and killed at the school.
Within minutes, deputies at a nearby sheriffs department substation entered the school and arrested the two suspects without exchanging gunfire. One of the suspects was detained by the schools security guard, Spurlock said.
Both suspects were students at the school and they were not previously known to authorities, Spurlock said.
Josh Dutton, 18, told The Associated Press that he was close friends with Devon Erickson in middle school but hadnt seen him for four years as he went to a different high school. On Sunday, he spotted Erickson at a local light rail station and said he was shocked at how much his friend had changed.
Erickson wore all black, a hat and sunglasses, was significantly skinnier and didnt seem interested in talking. He said hed just turned 18 and he owned rifles, Dutton said.
A message left at a phone number listed for Ericksons home was not immediately returned. He was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon.
It was not immediately clear when the younger suspect, who has not been identified, would appear in court.
The shooting took place exactly a week after a gunman killed two students and wounded four at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. It also comes nearly three weeks after neighboring Littleton marked the grim 20th anniversary of the Columbine school massacre that killed 13 people. The two schools are separated by about 7 miles (11 kilometers) in adjacent communities south of Denver.
