1 Student Dead, 8 Injured in Shooting at Colorado STEM School Highlands Ranch

One student is dead and eight others were injured after a shooting Tuesday at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Highlands Ranch, Colo., the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said. Two suspects are in custody.

• By Jessica Davis
• May 09, 2019

One student is dead and eight others were injured after a shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Highlands Ranch, Colo., the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said. Two suspects are in custody.

According to Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock, two shooters walked into the campus’s high school at about 1:50 p.m. Tuesday and opened fire in “two separate locations.”

Spurlock said that administrators called the dispatch center as soon as gunfire was heard in the school, and the campus was placed on lockdown.

Deputies arrived two minutes later and found the two suspects, continuing to shoot, one of whom was armed with a handgun. The suspects were taken into custody separately.

Spurlock said no gunfire was exchanged between deputies and the suspects, and no law enforcement members were injured.

"I have to believe that the quick response of the officers that got inside that school helped save lives," he said.

Agents from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and ATF also responded to the incident to help with the investigation.

The sheriff’s office initially said both suspects were male, but said Wednesday morning that the second suspect is a female. Spurlock said the suspects were believed to be students at the school.

According to Spurlock, the STEM School Highlands Ranch does not have a dedicated school resource officer, instead contracting out its security staff.

Class will be canceled at the campus through the end of the week. All other schools in Douglas County will remain open, with heightened security.

"This is a terrible event," Spurlock said. "This is something that no one wants to have happen in their community ... and we will get to the bottom of it to figure out how and what has occurred."