Staff and Students Credited With Saving Lives in Evergreen High School Shooting

By Heather Willard | KDVR FOX31

DENVER (KDVR) — More details are emerging about how a 16-year-old student carried out a shooting last Wednesday at Evergreen High School, leaving two other students with critical injuries and killing himself.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the first deputy was dispatched to the school at 12:24 p.m., “shortly after calls began to flood 911.” The agency said deputies arrived at the high school within two and a half minutes, and that during that time, the 16-year-old shooter had fired multiple rounds inside of Evergreen High School and injured a student.

“While deputies responded quickly, the actions taken by teachers, staff, and students inside the school undoubtedly saved lives,” the sheriff’s office said. “They relied on the safety protocols and lockdown procedures they have practiced, and those immediate actions made a critical difference.”

A part-time school resource officer had been at the school earlier in the day, but was called away for a nearby crash response. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy followed protocol, and also said that a full-time officer will be assigned to the school when students return to campus for classes.

The agency said that Desmond Holly, the shooter, then left the high school building, crossed the football field and shot a second student at the corner of South Olive Road and Buffalo Park Road, according to the sheriff’s office.

As of Tuesday, one student at Saint Anthony’s Hospital remained in critical but stable condition, and the student who had been transferred to Children’s Hospital Colorado was still in serious condition.

Then, deputies located and confronted Holly, “who then took his own life.” The agency said that there was one shooter in the incident, and approximately 20 rounds were fired. Officials have said they do not know how Holly got hold of the gun.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said that most school shootings end in minutes, with federal studies showing that active shooter events end in five minutes or less. That timeframe for school shootings is closer to 10-12 minutes, according to the sheriff’s office, and the incident at Evergreen High lasted nine minutes.

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