Police Activity Near Deer Creek Middle School Littleton, Colorado. (february
LITTLETON, Colo. Two young students were wounded and a suspect was in custody after a shooting at Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Colorado, southwest of Denver, Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
Jordan, a 7th grade student at Deer Creek who witnessed the shooting, told FOX31 News that students were waiting outside the school for buses and pick-up around 3:15 p.m. when a man with long hair, wearing a black hat and black jacket, opened fire.
“From what I could see he was older, not like a teenager,” Jordan said. “It sounded like fireworks.”
“It was a very big gun, looked like a rifle,” Jordan said.
Other students said a math teacher, identified as Dr. David Benke, tackled and disarmed the gunman, and helped keep him subdued until police arrived moments later.
“School staff had already taken a suspect into custody prior to our arrival,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jacki Kelley said. “Some staff acted very quickly and very heroically.”
She said the weapon was a high-powered hunting rifle.
Authorities say a female student sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. The other victim, a male student, was shot in the arm. Both were taken to Littleton Adventist Hospital with non-life threatening wounds. One was listed in serious condition, the other in fair condition.
The gunman’s identity was not immediately released.
The school was placed on lock down and then evacuated immediately after the shooting. Parents were told to pick up their children at nearby Stony Creek Elementary.
Authorities said Deer Creek and Stony Creek would be closed Wednesday. Mental health counselors will available at schools across the Jefferson County School District.
“It’s hard to explain why they would target innocent victims,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink, who was among the hundreds of law enforcement agents who responded to the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. “It’s just mind-boggling to me why someone would do that.”
“As many school districts have learned, you can prepare, you can train, but I don’t think you’re every really prepared for something like this to happen,” Lynn Setzer with the Jefferson County School District said. “In terms of being ready, we train our staff members for a number of different scenarios. This is one of them.
Deer Creek Middle School is located at 9201 West Columbine Drive, not far from Columbine High School where two students went on a shooting spree in 1999, killing 12 classmates and one teacher.
Source: www.baltimoresun.com