Gunman Takes Hostages at Colorado High School

[CrimsonTide4]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/27/sch....ap/index.html

[sdsuchelle]

As someone who was in a school shooting.. this really, really upsets me.

[DeltAlum]

Here's a link to my old TV stations's webpage:

http://cbs4denver.com/topstories/loc...270191531.html

According to authorities, the gunman sexually asssaulted some of his hostages.

One hostage was killed, and the gunman was also killed -- or killed himself.

This was a pretty emotional thing, with Platte Canyon High School being probably 25 miles from Columbine. Jefferson County is the next county over, and sent it's SWAT Team to help the mountain county where Platte Canyon is located. It was the Jefferson County Sheriff's office that was the lead law enforcement agency in the Columbine situation.

This was quite a shock to parents and survivors of Columbine.

No motive or reason is known at this point.

[sdsuchelle]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

According to authorities, the gunman sexually asssaulted some of his hostages.

One hostage was killed, and the gunman was also killed -- or killed himself.

Oh my God. I am going to throw up.

[SoCalGirl]

(((Michelle))) I remember the shootings here, you were like 15 then??? You poor thing. My thoughts are with the students and families.

[sdsuchelle]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

(((Michelle))) I remember the shootings here, you were like 15 then??? You poor thing. My thoughts are with the students and families.

I was actually a 14-year-old freshman. It was awful. I was at Granite Hills HS, though, where nobody died... although the shooter (who used to be my assigned lab partner in Physics) killed himself in jail.

[DeltAlum]

Later reports are that the gunman killed himself.

His victim was flown by Flight For Life helicopter, which appears to have been standing by on the school's football field) to one of Denver's (I think they call it Level One) trauma centers and was reportedly still alive when she arrived, but the head wound was too traumatic and she died shortly after reaching the hospital.

The Jefferson County (JeffCo to those of us here) SWAT Team, on the decision of the Park County Sheriff, who has a son at the school, "breached" the classroom door with explosives after the suspect broke off negotiations with authorities and a deadline he had imposed was getting close. At that point, the gunman shot the victim and then himself -- after firing at deputies. As I said earlier, JeffCo was the jurisdiction where Columbine is located.

The gunman let everyone in the classroom go, except several girls, and later released four of the six girls he was holding, leaving only two hostages.

The news conference with the Park County Sheriff was very moving, with him barely holding back tears. His family moved to the mountain community thirty-six years ago, and besides his son who is still a student, his daughter graduated from Platte Canyon High School last year. He is quoted as being "scared to death" as he responded to the high school that he had to "do the right thing."

As you can imagine, this has badly shaken not only the Bailey (Park County) community of around 3,600 where everyone pretty much knows everyone else, but also the Denver and specifically the Columbine community as well.

Many of the reporters and photographers, both print and broadcast, had also covered Columbine.

It appears that both law enforcement and the school system had learned important lessons from Columbine, but the waiting for word on thier children was still long and nearly unbearable for anxious parents as busses arrived at a nearby elementary school carrying students who were evacuated from the high school and adjacent middle school. Police used a much more proactive approach after being criticized for not being more aggressive during the Columbine seige -- although everyone was quick to point out that the situations were different in terms of numbers of hostages, victims and gunmen. While several SWAT teams from Metro Denver were at Columbine, it's ironic to me that the JeffCo SWAT team had the lead in this situation as well. It is probably good that this situation was at a smaller school and communications between law enforcement agencies (both county sheriff offices in this case) has improved since Columbine (although they're still not great overall).

A school administrator called a "Code White" over the PA system. The students didn't know what that meant, but one was quoted as saying one look at his teacher's face was all it took to know the situation was serious.

The class the gunman broke into was an Honors English course. The young victim worked as a waitperson at a local cafe and was very popular among her peers and other townpeople.

Names of other hostages were not released by local media because almost all do not release the names of sexual assault victims.

The gunman was not identified, but allegedly was a former Bailey resident who had moved to the Denver metro area sometime in the past.

This incident happened the day after the huge funeral for an Aurora Police officer who was killed while sitting in his car at an intersection by a gunman who just walked up and fired randomly into the officer's personal car. The procession to the Ft. Logan National Cemetary consisted of over 1,000 police cars from all over the country.

It's been quite a week.

[DeltAlum]

The alleged gunman has been identified at 53 year old Duane Morrison, a Denver area resident.

Here is another link, this one to the Rocky Mountain News.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/

[Honeykiss1974]

Goodness. My prayers are with this community.

[valkyrie]

I watched quite a bit of coverage yesterday evening. They interviewed a friend of the girl who died, and she talked about how the girl had been having problems with people at school. It was very strange. Another girl talked about how the guy came into the school and was staring at her -- I think he said something to her but she told him she had to go to class and left, and then he stared into the classroom. That's just flat-out bizarre -- unless everything happened REALLY fast after that, how could some creepy staring guy be able to just hang out in the school? Why would he even be able to GET in the school?

There was mention about a family that moved out there to get away from Columbine. I don't understand why people think a more remote location is going to be safer -- I have always thought (and I have no evidence to back this up) that suburban or rural locations are more dangerous in terms of these tragedies that come from nowhere. There might be dangers in the city, but I think you're more likely to be aware of the possibility and know what the dangers are. I'd rather have that then the unexpected attack from out of nowhere for which nobody is prepared.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Why would he even be able to GET in the school?

This is a fair question. DA, you seem to be in the know about this whole story. Has there been anything mentioned about how this guy was even allowed into the school to begin with?

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

This is a fair question. DA, you seem to be in the know about this whole story. Has there been anything mentioned about how this guy was even allowed into the school to begin with?

Not that I've seen, heard of read. It seems like a few students saw him, thought he was a little strange and then the situation was out of control.

My impression is that this guy wasn't hanging around for hours, though, and this developed fairly rapidly.

Most, if not all, of the Denver area high schools have full time police or sheriffs deputies in the buildings at all times. I don't know if that true of the close in mountain town schools or not. Nothing has been said about a deputy being assigned there.

I think Valkyrie has an excellent point. Looking back at school shootings and hostage situations, most have been either in suburbs or rural areas. I can't remember one in a hard core urban setting.

I heard the Park County Sheriff on the radio on the way home who said that an assasult rifle was found in a highway turnout area not far from the school. There is no evidence to say that it had or didn't have anything to due with this situation, but the Sheriff called the discovery, "interesting."

It was reported today that the gunman had been "living in his car" in recent months. There was also some speculation (important to note that word) that he may have targeted certain of the girls before going to the school. A male student allegedly said that a man had asked him about girls at the school.

(ETA that KUSA-TV is reporting that the sheriff has confirmed that the gunman had a list of names of female students)

The story is getting fairly wierd, but with the gunman dead the truth and motive may never be known.

[DeltAlum]

A report by a friend of mine, Suzanne McCarroll, a long time reporter at KCNC-TV here is just too sad.

Here is a part of it:

"BAILEY, Colo. The 16-year-old girl who died in the Bailey tragedy sent a loving message to her family before she was shot inside Platte Canyon High School on Wednesday afternoon, CBS4 has learned.

Emily Keyes had recently turned 16 and was given a phone as a present, family spokesman Louis Gonzalez said.

Her father couldn't reach her after the lockdown at the school started, so he had someone help him send a text message to her through his phone. He asked if she was OK in the message.

Her reply at 1:52 p.m. was short and simple:

"I love you guys."

Keyes was shot 2 hours later in the school by Duane R. Morrison, 53, and was pronounced dead at a Denver hospital."

The station website is www.cbs4denver.com

[DolphinChicaDDD]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Why would he even be able to GET in the school?

I was wondering that myself. My school is practically a minimum security prison, as is every other high school in my area. Maybe its just because I've gone to school or taught in urban areas my whole life, but I just assumed that every other high school has simliar procedures.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by DolphinChicaDDD

I was wondering that myself. My school is practically a minimum security prison...

Our kids school had a full time cop there (big, suburban school) for all school hours, athletic events, etc., but in reality, he can only be in one place at any given time. Pretty much any adult could follow any kid in any door at any time.

At Columbine, the two killers exchanged gunfire with the on site deputy there before they went on their rampage.

Short of making a school an armed camp, it's pretty tough to secure.