A Highland Ranch student’s final act of courage becomes a case for sainthood

By By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette

Many hailed 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo as a hero for trying to stop a shooter at his charter school just a few weeks before he was to graduate in May 2019.

But did the STEM School Highlands Ranch senior live a life of “heroic virtue,” before it was tragically ended by a gunman, who also injured eight people?

Two priests at St. Mark Catholic Church in Highlands Ranch, which is part of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, believe so.

And six years after Castillo was murdered, they’ve initiated a process that they hope will end with worldwide public recognition of how saintly his selfless actions were.

Rushing at the shooter and giving other kids time to move away from the gunfire — which was credited with preventing more fatalities — was consistent with the life the teen had been leading all along, said the Rev. Gregory Bierbaum, pastor at St. Mark.

“Ever since this happened in 2019, it’s been widely believed he was heroic,” he said. “Kendrick’s actions clearly saved lives.”

But instead of embarking on the rest of his life to study engineering in college that fall, Castillo was laid to rest at a botanical garden cemetery near Denver.

Bierbaum and the Rev. Patrick DiLoreto, parochial vicar at the parish, wondered if Castillo’s faith inspired him to in essence sacrifice his life for the sake of others, along the lines of Jesus Christ.

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