Denver’s East High School Shooting Leaves Two Staff Members Injured

DENVER — According to 9NEWS, the person suspected of shooting and injuring two East High School employees was discovered de@d on Wednesday morning.

Law police discovered the red Volvo that belonged to 17-year-old Austin Lyle on County Road 68, also known as Wellington Lake Road, west of Bailey on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Park County Sheriff’s Office.

Just before 6 o’clock in the evening, Denver police said that the culprit was still being sought.

According to Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw, a body was discovered in the woods about two-tenths of a mile from the automobile around 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday. According to McGraw, no one has been able to identify the body.

According to a law enforcement source, Lyle’s body was found and it appears that he committed suicide, the source informed 9NEWS.

Due to the inquiry, Park County issued an emergency alert for the town of Bailey and the surrounding area. People were urged to remain put and dial 911 if they noticed anything unusual.

The shelter-in-place warning has been lifted, according to McGraw. According to police, Lyle, a current East High School student, was sought for the Wednesday morning shooting just before 10 a.m.

According to a safety plan, he was being checked for weapons when the shooting occurred, according to the Denver Police Department (DPD).

Denver's East HS Shooting Leaves Two Staff Members Injured

“They [Lyle] were undergoing a search, and during that search, obviously a weapon, a handgun was retrieved and several shots were fired,” DPD Chief Ron Thomas said.

Both administrators on staff were transported to the hospital for treatment. One was transported to the hospital for surgery to treat potentially fatal wounds. Although in critical condition, the second victim could communicate with the detectives.

East High School lists Jerald Mason and Eric Sinclair as deans, and Denver Health confirmed that both men are active patients. According to Denver Health, Mason was released from the hospital and was in good condition just before 5:30 p.m. Sinclair’s health is still critical.

According to DPD, a student was also hospitalized due to an allergic reaction, even though they weren’t injured in the gunshot.

East High School will be closed for the remainder of the week due to the shooting, which took place in an office area away from other students. Classes will resume after spring break.

“I just think we should spread awareness about what’s happening,” East freshman Scarlet Cooper. She claimed to have seen an ambulance outside the school during a break.

“It’s really scary and worrying,” she said. “Like when you go to school, you’re not expecting people you know to get shot at. You’re not expecting anyone to have a weapon in the school. So it’s scary to hear about someone being innocent and being shot for no reason.”

Michael Hancock, the mayor of Denver, recognized that perhaps schools need to be more secure.

“This should never –  as a parent, I can tell you – never – be a concern of a parent of whether or not their kids are safe in their building,” he said. 

“The police department had been working to have a presence outside this building for quite some time,” Hancock said. “I think it’s clear now that we need to do even more interdiction with our police officers inside the buildings.”

According to the safety protocol, Lyle had already been examined, and no weapons were discovered, Thomas added.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects Lyle’s safety plan, according to DPS Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero, who declined to speak further on it (FERPA).

“It’s a result of previous behavior,” he said. “Each student may have exhibited past educational and behavioral experiences.”

Additionally, he said that all schools in DPS and other districts use these kinds of strategies “often.”

Daily pat-downs of a pupil are “rare,” according to Clayton Cranford, a former SRO in California who now conducts school security training for school districts across the US.

“I’m sure parents are concerned because they’re thinking if a student at my child’s school is so concerning that they must pat them down every day. They must wonder, ‘Is this the appropriate educational setting for that particular student?’ And I think that’s a discussion schools need to have with parents as well,” Cranford said.

Lyle was “removed” from Overland High School in Aurora for “violations” of board policy, a Cherry Creek School District spokesman stated late on Wednesday.

Sources inform 9NEWS that Lyle was accused of “possessing a de@dly weapon” in 2021. Outside of Arapahoe County, the case was.

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