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Colorado experts share warning signs and steps to prevent school shootings
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CBS News, Approved, State

Colorado experts share warning signs and steps to prevent school shootings

By Alan Gionet | CBS Colorado Two weeks after the shooting at Evergreen High School, students are heading back to classes. It comes as parents and students continue to wonder about the possibility that there may have been ways to stop the shooter who injured two fellow students before taking his own life. "You don't ever want to be that individual that an active shooting happens... and you find out who it is, and you go, 'I knew that was going to happen. I knew it, right?' You gotta' live with that," said AJ DeAndrea, a former deputy police chief with the Arvada Police Department who now runs a safety consulting and training company and has reviewed such shootings to assess threats. His message is for parents, students, and community members who may have fears that someone may be ...
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A Senior’s Perspective: Fear, Hope, And The Path Forward At Evergreen
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

A Senior’s Perspective: Fear, Hope, And The Path Forward At Evergreen

By Hanna Powers | KDVR FOX31 EVERGREEN, Colo. (KDVR) — Students at Evergreen High School are taking their first careful steps back onto campus just over two weeks after a shooting that left the community shaken. Senior Sylvia Howell said the return will be filled with hugs, tears and a shared sense of healing. “I think there’s going to be a lot of hugs, maybe some tears, which has been kind of the story of the last few weeks,” Howell said. The Jefferson County School District is staggering the reopening to support students and staff. Monday: Staff returned to prepare classrooms. Early this week: Parent information sessions held. Thursday and Friday: Optional half days welcome students back for the first time. Howell said she plans to be there. “I think it’s import...
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Kids’ mental health ER visits jumped 26% at Children’s Hospital Colorado this summer
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Kids’ mental health ER visits jumped 26% at Children’s Hospital Colorado this summer

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun Summer usually marks a quiet time for mental health programs at Children’s Hospital Colorado. This year, the hospital system saw more students with more severe struggles. A surge of kids struggling with mental health crises spent part of their summer in the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Colorado — a season medical professionals say is typically quiet with a lull in patients. Children’s Hospital Colorado reported a 26% uptick in children showing up at the emergency department because of mental health challenges between June and July this year compared with the same timeframe last year. And the number of kids needing inpatient care at the hospital system jumped more than 55% from 2020 to 2024, according to data provided by the hospi...
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Evergreen High School Sets Gradual Reopening After Tragic Shooting
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Evergreen High School Sets Gradual Reopening After Tragic Shooting

By Spencer Kristensen | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — Jefferson County Public Schools announced plans for staff and students to return to Evergreen High School in the upcoming week, following a break in response to the shooting that took place at the school. “Thank you for your patience as we took time last week to listen and learn about what our students, staff and families need as we move forward. After hearing from our EHS community, the Evergreen High School staff had a productive meeting on Friday; I continue to be grateful for the ongoing courage and commitment from our staff,” said the district in a press release. The return will operate as follows: Monday, Sept. 22 to Wednesday, Sept. 24 Staff will prepare for the return of the students, who will show up later ...
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Colorado’s laws put parents on the sidelines — and kids at risk
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s laws put parents on the sidelines — and kids at risk

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado politicians have been busy passing laws that put government between parents and kids. From mental health and gender identity to abortion and what’s taught in the classroom, the message is clear — parents don’t get a say. Families across our state are raising the alarm, sharing stories of confusion, heartbreak, and harm.  It’s time we take a hard look at what these laws are doing to our children. Mental health without parents HB19-1120 opened a door most parents didn’t know existed. Kids 12 and up can start therapy without a parent’s consent and often without a heads-up. Picture a seventh grader talking through depression or identity questions while mom and dad are kept out until there’s a crisis. The only guara...
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Rasmussen poll reveals why so many young voters are turning radical
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Rasmussen Reports, Approved, Commentary, National

Rasmussen poll reveals why so many young voters are turning radical

By Brian Joondeph | Commentary, Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Report’s new survey of voters under 40 paints a stark picture. Most believe the economy is unfair to them, and a majority would even support a law to confiscate Americans’ “excess wealth” (second homes, luxury cars, boats) to help young people buy a first home. Fifty-five percent endorse that idea, but just 38% oppose it. Only 29% of individuals under 40 are homeowners, and many feel “stuck,” lonely, or in crisis.  Why the sudden shift? Start with COVID’s totalitarian backlash. Youth mental health was declining before 2020, but the pandemic, especially school closures and extended isolation, made it worse. CDC’s latest Youth Risk Behavior data show four in ten high school students reported persistent...
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New Colorado program shifts defendants from jail to treatment on competency grounds
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

New Colorado program shifts defendants from jail to treatment on competency grounds

By Michael Braithwaite | The Denver Gazette In an attempt to reduce wait times for inpatient defendant competency restoration, Colorado courts are launching a new program to divert eligible people into a separate community care process. The near-$1.5 million program, which uses money from the general fund and was spurred by the passage of House Bill 24-1355 last June, will create a process in each judicial district to identify certain individuals who are not competent enough to proceed in a trial process and refer them to a wraparound program that will connect them with external care, according to a news release from the Colorado Judicial Branch and the bill itself. “This work is the result of years of collaboration, deep listening, and versatility,” said Gene Klivansky,...
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Student Shares Harrowing Story From Evergreen High Shooting
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Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Student Shares Harrowing Story From Evergreen High Shooting

By Heather Willard | KDVR FOX 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Hundreds of students were impacted Wednesday when one of their classmates brought a gun to campus and shot two students and himself at Evergreen High School. Freshman Sam Fisher was in the school’s band room when the lockdown began, just days into his first year of high school. “So we all kind of hid in a corner,” Fisher told FOX31’s Courtney Fromm. “We heard like the first gunshot, we were one of the first rooms that they went to. So it was the first gunshot that went, and everybody kind of freaked out a bit, and then there was a second, and I sort of blanked out at that point, but I think I felt some kind of debris hit my forehead.” The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the hospital hours after the shooting, acc...
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Prayer works: Science confirms what believers have always known
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The Daily Signal, Approved, Commentary, National

Prayer works: Science confirms what believers have always known

By Andrew Fowler | Commentary, The Daily Signal The role of prayer in civil society has emerged in the wake of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting, and this may be a blessing of sorts amidst the tragedy. This is because scientific research has shown time and again that religious faith and the practice of prayer check pathologies and improve quality of life on almost every level.  However, politicians and commentators belittled “thoughts and prayers” as ineffective in preventing other mass killings. Others, from Vice President JD Vance to Bishop Robert Barron to Franciscan University, were quick to emphasize prayer’s importance in moments of anguish and darkness. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security even&nbs...
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Tragedy at Catholic school linked to shooter’s personal torments
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New York Post, Approved, National

Tragedy at Catholic school linked to shooter’s personal torments

By: Emily Crane | New York Post Deranged transgender Minnesota shooter Robin Westman had recently dumped his longtime girlfriend, raging about her “blue hair and pronouns” — and complaining about not being able to murder her because it “would really f–k up” his plans to massacre kids. The 23-year-old maniac, who slaughtered two children and injured 18 other people at a Minneapolis Catholic school, had only recently called it quits with his partner of several years before last week’s bloodshed, his dad previously revealed. The ex has been identified by the Daily Mail as 22-year-old Abigail Bodick, who the outlet called a “furry.” Bodick was previously pictured on social media wearing cat ears and whiskers at an anime convention earlier this year. In the serie...
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