Shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado

[Adam]

School Shooting in Colorado; At Least 2 Injured

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (KDVR) — At least two people have been shot at Arapahoe High School, sheriff’s deputies said 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 area high school, and that at least one student had been critically injured.

Paramedics had been called to the scene and a rush of police officers swarmed the school, which is located at the intersection of South University Boulevard and East Dry Creek Road.

Scanner traffic also indicated that a SWAT team was being called to the school, but that information had also not yet been confirmed as of 1 p.m.

Tak Landrock reported that emergency personnel were advising parents to go to the front door of King Soopers at Dry Creek and University to pick up their children.

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More reports here, and here, and here.

[Gingersnap]

To the extent possible, I've tried to avoid this story but it's not seriously possible. They sent out an email at work since Littleton Public schools were all locked down and the parents of Arapahoe High kids were instructed to pick them up at a designated location.

Basically, a kid had a beef with a debate coach/librarian. The kid injured 2 kids while hunting for the coach - one shot (maybe) and undergoing surgery now and one with minor injuries. The coach left the building to try to lure the shooter out (I guess) but that didn't happen. The shooter killed himself with a shotgun.

[Adam]

:: pulls pin ::


Well, at least all of those new Colorado gun laws helped prevent another school shooting from happening.

[scott]

To the extent possible, I've tried to avoid this story but it's not seriously possible. They sent out an email at work since Littleton Public schools were all locked down and the parents of Arapahoe High kids were instructed to pick them up at a designated location.

Basically, a kid had a beef with a debate coach/librarian. The kid injured 2 kids while hunting for the coach - one shot (maybe) and undergoing surgery now and one with minor injuries. The coach left the building to try to lure the shooter out (I guess) but that didn't happen. The shooter killed himself with a shotgun.

That coach is a hero!

[Gingersnap]

That coach is a hero!

That's what people are saying.

And yes, our new, shiny gun laws made a real difference here with a typical angst-ridden adolescent.

[scott]

That's what people are saying.

And yes, our new, shiny gun laws made a real difference here with a typical angst-ridden adolescent.

What size was the magazine used and how many shots were fired?

[Gingersnap]

What size was the magazine used and how many shots were fired?

LOL! Some student said 6 shots but people seem to think that he shot at the coach and missed, shot a girl, and shot himself.

Who knows? This does not seem to be a high fire scenario.

[scott]

LOL! Some student said 6 shots but people seem to think that he shot at the coach and missed, shot a girl, and shot himself.

Who knows? This does not seem to be a high fire scenario.

Nor one that would be solved by limiting magazine size.

Tragic, and it shows a cultural problem. We have to figure out how to get people to not see guns as the solution to personal problems.

[Gingersnap]

Nor one that would be solved by limiting magazine size.

Tragic, and it shows a cultural problem. We have to figure out how to get people to not see guns as the solution to personal problems.

We were talking about it at work. About half of us shoot, grew up with it, had guns within easy reach all through our adolescence, etc. We never thought of solving problems that way as teenagers (nor did any of us know of any school shootings). Half of us had no knowledge of guns, never shot, never grew up with it, etc. Those people thought that they might have misused firearms during their teenage years if they'd had access to them.

It was an interesting conservation.

[JB]

What size was the magazine used and how many shots were fired?

Was it another AR-15 shotgun?

[Adam]

Was it another AR-15 shotgun?

Doubtless with a bayonet lug and a pistol grip.

Which, of course, makes a shotgun blast far more lethal than it otherwise would be.

[Gingersnap]

More information about the shooter is coming out. He apparently disliked Republican political positions on women's rights, gun violence, and health care reform.

Well, that's the last we'll hear about this event.

[scott]

More information about the shooter is coming out. He apparently disliked Republican political positions on women's rights, gun violence, and health care reform.

Well, that's the last we'll hear about this event.

Heh!

He'll be painted as mentally unstable, not "rightwing."

[Michele]

Arapahoe High gunman held strong political beliefs, classmates said


The teenage gunman who entered Arapahoe High School on Friday afternoon and shot two fellow students with a shotgun was outspoken about politics, was a gifted debater and might have been bullied for his beliefs, according to students who knew him.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson identified the gunman as Karl Pierson, an 18-year-old student.

"He had very strong beliefs about gun laws and stuff," said junior Abbey Skoda, who was in a class with Pierson during her freshman year. "I also heard he was bullied a lot."

Robinson said that his department was investigating reports that Pierson was seeking to settle a score with a teacher after a confrontation.



Even before authorities named the gunman, friends and neighbors were in shock as word spread that Pierson was a dedicated, bright student from a religious family that attends Bible study meetings.

"They're just a normal middle-class family, like many of the families around here," said neighbor Diane Shea.

On Friday night, neighbors huddled in the quiet Highlands Ranch neighborhood adorned with holiday lights to console one another.

Neighbors and students remembered Pierson as a track athlete and a member of the Arapahoe speech-and-debate team whose mother worked for the Douglas County School District.

In April, Pierson placed third in national extemporaneous speaking at the National Qualifying Tournament held at Cherry Creek High School, earning him a spot in the national tournament in June.

After the June competition, he wrote on Facebook: "Hey guys! I just got back from day 2 of nationals and I'm sorry to say I am not moving on, nor am I in the top 60 in the country. Thank you from everyone for your support, and have a great rest of the summer and hope we can send some more guys to nationals in Kansas next year!"

[Norm dePlume]

Nor one that would be solved by limiting magazine size.

Tragic, and it shows a cultural problem. We have to figure out how to get people to not see guns as the solution to personal problems.

Well, it's certainly a lower body count than Columbine or the Aurora theater shooting.