Both suspects, dressed in jail uniforms, appeared separately in a courtroom that included the family of Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old student who was killed in the shooting at the suburban Denver school when classmates said he lunged at a shooter and helped stop the attack from escalating. Neither Erickson nor McKinney spoke beyond quietly answering the judge with yes or no.<doc-sep>The state of policing 1 year after George Floyd's death A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Keilar rolls the tape on the Covid-19 'lab leak' theory Faulty redactions show more info seized in Giuliani investigation than previously disclosed WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vigils & tributes to George Floyd one year since his murder ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) Interest in vaccinations increased after mask guidance, data says A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East (CNN) — The two suspects accused of carrying out a mass shooting at a Denver-area charter school made their first appearances in court Wednesday. Neither of the suspects – an 18-year-old student at the school named Devon Erickson, and a 16-year-old student named Alec McKinney – were formally charged. Eighteen-year-old Kendrick Ray Castillo was killed and eight others were wounded in the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch. First-degree murder and attempted murder charges will certainly be filed, said 18th Judicial District District Attorney George Brauchler. He wants time to consider other charges, he said. Erickson took the two handguns used in the shooting from his parents, according to a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation. Both guns were purchased legally, the source said. Both suspects are scheduled to appear separately in court again on Friday afternoon. Erickson spent most of his hearing Wednesday with his head bowed, his bushy head of hair – colored with streaks of purple – obscuring his face. He spoke only when spoken to directly by the judge, and at one point signed a court document while holding his handcuffed wrists in front of him. Joe Amon/The Denver Post/Pool/AP Devon Erickson rarely looked up during a court appearance Wednesday. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek to try the 16-year-old suspect as an adult, Brauchler told reporters. Authorities initially referred to the 16-year-old suspect as female. But the suspect’s lawyer said in court that McKinney goes by the first name Alec, and uses the pronoun “he,” Colorado Judicial Department spokesman Rob McCallum said. Brendan Bialy, a student who helped disarm one of the suspects, said he knows both alleged shooters. Erickson was a student in his class, where another student was killed and several were wounded, he said. Hero student immediately jumped the killer courtesy John and Maria Castillo Kendrick Castillo was killed trying to rush one of the shooters, a witness said. Brendan Bialy said he and Kendrick Castillo were sitting near a classroom door when someone from their class arrived late and took out a gun. The two were sitting by a classroom door when someone from their class arrived late and took out a gun, he said. Castillo immediately rushed him. “It was immediate, nonhesitation, immediate jump into action,” Bialy said. Bialy and a third student then joined in and wrestled with the shooter, who may have fired once or twice more during the struggle, Bialy said. Once he got the gun away and the other student had the shooter pinned down, Bialy went over to Castillo, who was unresponsive. Castillo died at the school. The slain student was a kind, hilarious jokester who was always ready to help his classmates, student Tuscany “Nui” Giasolli said. “Kendrick was such a nice kid. If you needed something, he would be there for you,” Nui told CNN on Wednesday. That proved true even in the young man’s final moments. Castillo and Nui were analyzing comedy in English class and watching “The Princess Bride” Tuesday afternoon. Nui said the gunman talked to the teacher, then walked around the room. “Next thing I know, he’s pulling out a gun,” Nui said. She said the gunman told everyone not to move. “And that’s when the shooting started.” Nui’s mother, Nyki Giasolli, said if not for the heroism of her daughter’s classmates, “I wouldn’t have my baby today.” “All these kids are alive because of (Castillo’s) sacrifice and the bravery of all the boys to neutralize the threat,” Giasolli said. But across town, Castillo’s parents are mourning. A father’s mixed emotions after losing his only child At his home in Denver, John Castillo struggles to stop sobbing. He’s torn between pride and anguish after the heroics of his only child. “Selfless – that’s what my son was. And it got him killed. But he saved others,” the father said. “Because of what he did, others are alive, and I thank God for that. … But there’s another part of you that wishes he just turned and ran, retreated, hid.” David Zalubowski/AP Parents waited for their children Tuesday at a recreation center in Highlands Ranch. Like many parents, John Castillo waited at a reunification center Tuesday for buses to drop off survivors. One by one, he watched parents and children embrace with relief. “We didn’t have that,” he said. But he takes solace in knowing other children are alive because of Kendrick. “I’d like the world to know this wasn’t your average kid. … He was extraordinary.” How the Columbine shooting nearby changed everything The grieving community had just marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in nearby Littleton that left 12 students and a teacher dead. But the Columbine shooting changed the way police respond to active shootings. In 1999, responding officers didn’t enter the school and it took 47 minutes after the gunfire erupted for SWAT teams to enter.<doc-sep>Tom Cooper / Getty Images The two students accused of opening fire at the STEM School in a Denver-area suburb, killing one classmate and injuring eight others May 7, were charged with murder and multiple counts of attempted murder Wednesday. The suspects, Devon Erickson, 18, and Maya McKinney, a 16-year-old transgender student who goes by the name Alec, were formally charged in court with more than a dozen counts, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, theft, arson, and possession of weapons on school grounds. Prosecutors charged the 16-year-old suspect as an adult. However, his attorneys asked the judge to set a hearing to move the case back to juvenile court, a spokesperson for the court told BuzzFeed News. Both suspects were held without bond. They were arrested after authorities say they went deep inside STEM School Highlands Ranch and began shooting at classmates at separate locations. Erickson appeared in court Wednesday with glasses and pink-streaked hair. Facebook: denverpost Instagram Erickson (left) and McKinney Neither suspect was on law enforcement's radar prior to the shooting, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock has said, adding that they used at least two handguns in the attack. District Attorney George Brauchler said investigators know where the guns came from but has declined to comment on how they were obtained. People under the age of 21 are not allowed to possess or buy handguns in Colorado. Prosecutors have not provided a motive for the shooting. Instagram accounts that appear to belong to the suspects show them pictured with friends and at concerts. Instagram Instagram Last month, the 16-year-old suspect posted a series of photos from prom, including one of the two suspects with two other boys. In a post from October 2018, he wrote, "I'm only posting one of my senior pictures so people don't think I dropped out since I don't take classes at stem anymore." Erickson's former friend and classmate, Kevin Cole, told CNN that he used to frequently bully other kids and joke about mass shootings. Cole said he would enter the classroom and say, "when the pencil hits the floor I'm going to start shooting," after which he would drop pencils during the class. Cole also described threats he would allegedly make. "He would just get really close and kind of hunch himself over your shoulder as you were sitting down, and he would just whisper in your ear, 'Don't come to school tomorrow,' and just kind of crack a smile and walk back to his seat," Cole told CNN. He added that people would dismiss it as "that was just a Devon thing" and laugh it off. A tweet in January from an account that appears to belong to the 16-year-old suspect said, "FUCK stem kids i swear to fucking god." 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Cuomo: We refuse to do a 'damn thing' on school shootings (CNN) — The two teenage suspects in the deadly mass shooting at a Colorado charter school will appear in court next week to hear the charges against them. George Brauchler, district attorney for Douglas and other counties, has said 18-year-old Devon Erickson and 16-year-old Alec McKinney, both students at the school, will face murder, attempted murder and perhaps other charges. “My heart goes out not just to the victims in this case, but there are those that won’t be classified as victims that are feeling it … right now. Moms and dads looking at each other making decisions about whether or not to send their kids to school in one of the greatest school districts in the country because they don’t feel safe,” Brauchler said Wednesday. The suspects’ hearings initially were scheduled for Friday afternoon but have been moved to Wednesday morning, the district attorney’s office said. Brauchler is considering charging McKinney as an adult, he said. Authorities initially described McKinney as female. But the suspect’s lawyer said in court that the 16-year-old goes by the first name Alec and uses the pronoun “he,” Colorado Judicial Department spokesman Rob McCallum said. One student was killed while trying to take down one of the suspects and eight other students were wounded in Tuesday shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch. The tragedy Tuesday at the school marked the latest blow to a community that has already endured a rash of mass shootings – including Columbine High School and the Aurora movie theater. Students struggling to cope after the shooting Chris Elledge should be looking forward to finishing his freshman year and enjoying summer break. Instead, he and hundreds of other students are struggling to cope with the mass shooting that killed a young hero and wounded eight others at their Colorado school. “It’s just scary not knowing what’s going to come next,” the 15-year-old said. “How I was feeling in the moment is too horrible to remember. And I can’t imagine anyone who had to go through that in the past week or in the past year or whoever’s had to go through a shooting like what happened here.” Anonymous parent feared ‘a repeat of Columbine’ Newly obtained documents show the Douglas County School District had urged the STEM school to investigate allegations of violence and bullying that an anonymous parent feared could lead to “a repeat of Columbine.” Five months before Tuesday’s attack, a parent called the county Board of Education to express “concerns about student violence,” according to a school district letter obtained by CNN. The parent cited an alleged bomb threat and student clashes as evidence that the school could become the site of another Columbine-style attack, according to the letter. She also made about a dozen other allegations against the school, including a claim that “money is being sent to China and Mexico.” In response, Douglas County School District official Daniel Winsor wrote a letter to the school’s executive director, Penelope Eucker. He asked her to investigate the parent’s concerns, including claims that “many students are suicidal and violent in school. Several students have reported sexual assault in school and that nothing is being done.” “The concerns expressed by this individual are very serious and need to be looked into to the extent possible. Please keep (the district) apprised of your investigation and conclusions,” Winsor wrote. Parent was sued for ‘defamatory statements’ Eucker followed up with a letter to parents in February, disputing many of the anonymous parent’s claims. Her letter said allegations against the school’s administration were investigated but could not be substantiated. But the letter did not address the concerned parent’s claims that the environment could lead to severe student violence. Instead, the letter said the district sued the anonymous parent, “Jane Doe,” for spreading what they called “defamatory statements” about the school. Court documents confirm this lawsuit was filed in January. In a statement issued by a public relations firm, Eucker said the school’s administrative team contacted 2,800 parents. “STEM did not receive responses from any parents or students with information about these allegations,” Eucker said. “While STEM took the allegations seriously, our investigation revealed no evidence to support any of the allegations raised in the anonymous complaint.” Winsor could not be immediately reached for comment. CNN has not been able to verify the parent’s allegations, including the alleged bomb threat, with law enforcement.