One person died after two suspected student shooters opened fire at a STEM school in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch. Eight others were injured and both suspects are in custody, officials said. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said it responded to the STEM School Highlands Ranch just before 2 p.m. Tuesday when a school administrator called dispatch to report shots fired. Authorities believe the suspects used a handgun. "Two individuals walked into the STEM school, got deep inside the school and engaged students in two separate locations," Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. The sheriff's department confirmed that one student, an 18-year-old male, was killed in the shooting. The father of Kendrick Castillo told NBC News that his son was the student killed, but the family declined to be interviewed Tuesday night. The adult suspect was identified by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday night as Devon Erickson, 18. Authorities identified a second suspect as a juvenile female, but a public defender clarified that the juvenile prefers to use male pronouns. NBC News is not identifying the underage suspect, who has not yet been charged. Devon Erickson, a suspect in the shooting at a STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. via Facebook Spurlock said that several of the people who were injured are in critical condition and some were in surgery. At least three of the injured have since been released from an area hospital Tuesday evening. The shooting occurred in the middle school and officers heard shots as they were entering the school, officials said earlier in the day. “The only thing that we know of right now from one interview is that we have a handgun. Other than that I cannot tell you of other weapons,”Spurlock said. Authorities secured a suspect's vehicle and were seeking warrants to search the car as well as the suspects' homes. Multiple agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, responded to the scene to assist. The White House said in a statement that it was in contact with law enforcement and that President Donald Trump was monitoring the situation. "Our prayers are with the victims, family members, and all those affected by today’s shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Littleton, Colorado," the statement said. "Tragically, this community and those surrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts of violence." Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics Students at the public charter school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were being evacuated. STEM School Highlands Ranch has 1,850 students — 550 elementary age students, 700 in middle school and 600 high school students, according to the district. Kendrick Castillo was fatally shot at a STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. John Castillo / via Facebook Rocco DeChalk, who lives blocks from the school, heard a stampede of students running past his house. “I saw all of them running, so I thought it was a gym class at first,” he said. “But then I saw there were so many of them.” After going outside, he saw a teenage boy shot in the back and sitting by a mailbox two doors down. The boy was with a teacher and a friend, who had been applying pressure to a bullet wound. They called 911 and the dispatcher told them to take cover, so they helped the young victim into DeChalk’s kitchen. The man eventually flagged a passing policeman who then caught the attention of an ambulance, which rushed the youngster away. All the while, the boy remained conscious. “He made a comment, 'Oh, I’m starting to feel it now,'" DeChalk said referring to the pain. “I told him that was probably the adrenaline kicking in and he was going into shock.” Nyki Giasolli said her daughter, Kamananui, was in the classroom when a shooting happened. Giasolli said she was told by her daughter that people came in shooting. “She said that two of her classmates took the shooters down, and she was able to escape,” Giasolli told KUSA. "She just said there were people shot; that’s all I know.” Her daughter, who is a senior, and her son, Kupono, a freshman, are both safe. “She called me, and she was hysterical and she told me that there had been a shooting,” Giasolli said. Giasolli said her daughter said the shooters were students. “We chose a small school because we thought they’d be safer, because we thought that everybody would know everybody,” she said. Children file out of the STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday. KUSA Another parent told KUSA that her son was apparently in a room next to where the shooting occurred and was safe with a teacher. That teacher called her to let her know her son was OK. She said that the school has been sending automated voice messages and was told there was a lock down. The campus is just eight miles southeast of Columbine High School in Littleton, site of the April 20, 1999, mass shooting in which two gunmen murdered 12 fellow students and a teacher before killing themselves. The shooting comes just weeks after a Florida woman, Sol Pais, sparked a security scare that shut down area schools after authorities said she appeared to have an “infatuation” with the Columbine shooting and had purchased a shotgun in the area. Pais, 18, was found dead on April 17, two days after she flew to the area, of an apparent suicide, authorities said. Before this incident, two people had been killed and six injured in three school shootings in 2019, according to NBC News research.<doc-sep>A U.S. Marine recruit and other teenagers rushed one of the shooters at a Colorado school, helping to disarm him, according to police and witnesses. One of the students, Kendrick Castillo, 18, died while lunging at the shooter, according to a classmate at STEM School Highlands Ranch in a Denver suburb. Eight other students were injured in the shooting Tuesday. Kendrick Castillo was fatally shot at a STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. John Castillo / via Facebook "We're going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school," Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said Wednesday. Two suspects, both students, are in custody — Devon Erickson, 18, and a juvenile. Erickson made an initial court appearance on Wednesday and prosecutors are expected to file charges against him on Friday. Authorities identified a second suspect as a juvenile female, but a public defender clarified that the juvenile prefers to use male pronouns. NBC News is not identifying the underage suspect, who has not yet been charged. One of the teens involved in trying to take down a shooter was Brendan Bialy, a senior who plans on joining the Marines after he graduates in a few weeks. The class was watching a movie when the shooter came in, Bialy told NBC News. He says that's when he, Castillo and another classmate, Josh Jones, lunged at the gunman in an effort to disarm him. "I didn’t really think about it, it’s just like a very spur of the moment. I was afraid when it happened, absolute fear, but once that half second of fear struck I just...my body moved," Bialy told NBC News Wednesday. Bialy said that he was very close to Castillo, someone he was friends with for all of high school. Since Castillo's voice is gone now, he felt he knew his friend well enough to try to keep his friend's memory alive, Bialy said. "As the trend is now to propagate the name of the shooter, shooters and their intents just kind of glorifies it, if anything inspires other people," Bialy said. "So in this happenstance, the absolute legend of the events of yesterday, Kendrick Castillo is the name I think should not go away to the sands of time." Bialy is enrolled in the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program, the 8th Marine Corps District confirmed in a statement. "Brendan’s courage and commitment to swiftly ending this tragic incident at the risk of his own safety is admirable and inspiring," the 8th District Marines said. Brendan Bialy, who is enrolled in the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program, helped subdue a shooter at the STEM School in Colorado. Brendan Bialy / via Instagram Senior Nui Giasolli told the "Today" show that she was in class when one of the gunmen, a classmate, entered and suddenly drew a gun. “That’s when Kendrick lunged at him, and he shot Kendrick,” Giasolli said, “giving all of us enough time to get underneath our desks, to get ourselves safe, and to run across the room to escape.” Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics Giasolli thanked Bialy and the other students who rushed the shooter. They "were brave enough to bring him down so that all of us could escape and all of us could be reunited with our families.” The shooting came one week after two people were killed and four others injured in a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. One of the slain U.N.C. students, Riley Howell, 21, challenged the shooter giving police extra time to confront him. The local police chief hailed him as a hero while his family said they were "beyond proud."<doc-sep>One student was killed and eight others were wounded when two shooters opened fire at a K-12 school outside Denver on Tuesday. The suspects, a juvenile female and an adult male, are in custody after the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch, a charter school in Highlands Ranch, Colo., Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said at a press conference Wednesday morning. Law enforcement authorities initially incorrectly identified the juvenile shooting suspect as male. The coroner’s office identified the student who died in the shooting as Kendrick Ray Castillo, 18. “He was the best kid in the world,” his father John Castillo told the Denver Post. John Castillo said the coroner told him his son was fatally shot after he charged at one of the gunman in the school. “I wish he had gone and hid, but that’s not his character. His character is about protecting people, helping people,” he told the newspaper. Spurlock, the sheriff, said that all the victims are 15 years old or older. By Wednesday morning, three of the victims were still in intensive care at hospitals in the area. The rest of the victims had been released. Tuesday’s violence was just the latest mass shooting in the Denver suburbs. Highlands Ranch is a suburb of Denver, and the school is roughly 14 miles from the city center. The school’s website says that about 1,800 students attend the school. The school is about eight miles from Columbine High School, where 12 students and one teacher were murdered on April 20, 1999. Several days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, schools throughout the Denver area were closed after a young woman, who was said to be infatuated with the Columbine attack, threatened schools in the area. The woman later died by suicide. “I’ve got four kids in this school system, my wife’s business is less than a mile from here, I grew up in these parts,” 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said at Wednesday’s press conference. “And if you had suggested to anyone behind me or in this room that within 20 years and 20 miles, we would have dealt with Columbine, the Aurora theater, Arapahoe High School, the shooting of Zack Parrish and four other deputies, we’d have thought you mad. And yet, here we are again.” In addition to Columbine, Brauchler referenced the July 2012 shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. that left 12 dead and dozens wounded; the Dec. 13, 2013 shooting at Arapahoe High School in which a heavily armed student fatally wounded a classmate before taking his own life; and the Dec. 31, 2018 killing of Douglas County Deputy Zack Parrish in an ambush that resulted in four deputies and two bystanders being wounded. In addition, there was a November 2017 shooting at a Walmart in Thornton, Colo. in which a gunman walked into the store and killed three customers. At STEM Academy, the two shooters entered through the middle school entrance, where there are no metal detectors, and walked “deep inside the school” and started attacking students at around 2 p.m., Spurlock said. People in the school “almost immediately” called 911, and police arrived at the school about two minutes later. Undersheriff Holly Nicholson-Kluth said that police were on the scene “almost immediately” because there is a police substation a block from the school. She said that police could hear gunshots as they entered the school. Students escorted on school bus in front of STEM School Highlands Ranch after a shooting. May 7, 2019. Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The—Denver Post via Getty Images The school does not have a school resource officer, but has one armed security guard hired from a private company. Spurlock said one of the suspects was restrained by the time the deputies came into contact with them. The suspects were taken into custody without any exchange of gunfire with authorities. In addition to reports of Kendrick Castillo’s heroics during the shooting, the local Marine Corps. recruitment office said student Brendan Bialy, who plans to join the Marines after graduation, helped to subdue one of the shooters. “Brendan’s courage and commitment to swiftly ending this tragic incident at the risk of his own safety is admirable and inspiring. His decisive actions resulted in the safety and protection of his teachers and fellow classmates,” a statement from the Marines said. Spurlock said two handguns were used in the shooting, but did not release more details about the weapons that were used or how they were obtained. Spurlock also declined to answer questions about a potential motive in the shooting. Nicholson-Kluth said that crimes like this are uncommon in Highlands Ranch. “This is a good community. It’s usually very quiet. Low crime rate. So this is unusual for us,” said Nicholson-Kluth. Jennifer Brown, a reporter from the Colorado Sun, tweeted a picture taken at the crowded parent reunification center. The White House released a statement about the shooting on Tuesday night. “Our prayers are with the victims, family members, and all those affected by today’s shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Littleton, Colorado,” the statement said. “Tragically, this community and those surrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts of violence. The White House has been in communication with state and local officials, and the President has been briefed and continues to monitor the ongoing situation. We offer our full support to local law enforcement and first responders and thank them for their heroism.” Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you!<doc-sep>Ms. Giasolli said the seniors stayed close to one another on Tuesday afternoon as SWAT teams cleared their school and then took them to a recreation center, where thousands of anxious parents waited to reunite with them. They hugged one another and broke down sobbing in groups as they learned that Mr. Castillo, also a senior, had died. Ms. Giasolli said the tight-knit class was now bonded by grief and shock. “We’re all shaken,” she said. “It happened right before our eyes. It happened right in our classroom. We’re all hurting. We all did know these kids. We did know the shooter. We did know the people who got hurt. We’re all hurting in our own ways.” The suspects carried at least two handguns, and at least one of them had been restrained by a school security officer by the time law enforcement arrived, Sheriff Tony Spurlock of Douglas County said. Sheriff Spurlock said deputies had to force their way into the school because it was locked down. Law enforcement happened to choose a door that was near the shooting scene and quickly apprehended one of the suspects, who was identified as Devon Erickson, 18. The contrast between the tributes to Mr. Castillo, who was hailed as a hero by his friends, his community and Colorado’s governor, and the first court appearance of the two suspects could hardly have been starker. Mr. Erickson entered court on Wednesday wearing a red jumpsuit draped over his thin frame. His hair, dyed pink and blue, hung over his face. He sat between his lawyers with his head hanging, and he was shackled at both the wrists and the ankles. At times his body shook ever so slightly.<doc-sep>
Two students are suspects in the shooting at a Denver area STEM school that killed one student and wounded eight others. The suspects were apprehended after allegedly targeting two separate areas of the STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities identified Devon Erickson, 18, as one of the suspected shooters. Authorities identified a second suspect as a juvenile female, but a public defender clarified that the juvenile prefers to use male pronouns. NBC News is not identifying the underage suspect, who has not yet been charged. Here's what else we know: Who are the victims? One student, 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, was killed in the shooting. Castillo, who died at the scene, would have finished his high school career on Friday along with the school's other seniors, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. "The student was going to graduate and would've been out of school in three days,” the sheriff said. Castillo is credited with saving lives by diving at a shooter, allowing other students time to flee as he was fatally shot. Eight other people at the school were shot and hospitalized, Spurlock said. By Wednesday morning, five of those who were injured had been released from hospitals, and three remained in intensive care. Who are the suspects? Authorities initially described the suspects as an adult male and a juvenile male, but later said the suspect was female. The sheriff described the suspect is a “small young person,” who investigators thought was a juvenile male “by appearance.” “The identity wasn’t obvious to us when they were taken into custody,” he said Wednesday. The suspect’s public defender said that the juvenile prefers to to use male pronouns. NBC News is not identifying the underage suspect, who has not yet been charged. The adult suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Devon Erickson. Erickson made a brief initial appearance in a Douglas County courthouse on Wednesday, where he only uttered the word "no," responding to the judge asking if he had any questions. Devon Erickson, a suspect in the shooting at a STEM School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. via Facebook The juvenile and Erickson knew each other and would sometimes carpool to school together, Spurlock told NBC News. Erickson had recently posted a senior photo on his Facebook page, where he listed Pokémon and "The Walking Dead" as interests, along with several pop bands. He had also posted pictures of him acting in "Legally Blonde the Musical" and "Les Misérables" at a local community theater. On his YouTube page, he had posted videos of him singing, and his bio on Twitter read: "I make music I guess." The suspect's mother, Stephanie Erickson, 56, told the New York Post on Wednesday that the family needed "a little time right now.” When asked if she had any idea what would lead her son to carry out a school shooting, she said through tears: "I don’t, no.” What happened? The shooters, armed with handguns, entered the K-12 school Tuesday afternoon through the middle school, which has no metal detectors and one contracted armed security officer, Spurlock said. They were both "able to get deep inside the school" because they were students there, he said. Officers arrived within two minutes and heard gunfire when they entered the school, but they never exchanged gunfire with the suspects, Spurlock said. One of the suspects had already been restrained by a security officer, and was apprehended within a minute of deputies arriving at the school, Spurlock said. The other was detained in a hallway four minutes later. He said at least one student "encountered" a shooter. "We're going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school," he added. Student Nui Giasolli said on NBC's "Today" that Castillo, the student who was killed, "lunged" at the shooter before getting shot. "A teenager shouldn't have to be worrying about disarming another teenager with a firearm, we should have to be worrying about if our parents catch us on Instagram or Snapchat or something like that," Giasolli said. "We shouldn't have to be worrying about firearms being brought into our classrooms especially by other teenagers." Giasolli said that Castillo and other students gave "all of us enough time to get underneath our desks, to get ourselves safe, and to run across the room to escape.” "I think the fact that a lot of us nowadays have to react first and think later is kind of sick," Giasolli said.