What happened at Evergreen High
A lunchtime turned into chaos at Evergreen High School on Wednesday when a student opened fire on two classmates, then shot himself. The attack began around 12:30 p.m. across areas inside and outside the school, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The shooter, a juvenile male, died later that night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Deputies say they were on campus within two minutes of the first 911 call and made contact with the suspect in about five minutes. No officers fired their weapons. Investigators recovered a revolver, which they believe the shooter used during the attack before turning it on himself.
All three students were rushed to CommonSpirit St. Anthony Health Center in Lakewood. One victim remains in critical condition. The second victim, initially listed as stable with non-life-threatening injuries, improved to “fair” and was transferred to another facility for continued care. Dr. Brian Blackwood, who leads the hospital’s trauma team, confirmed the updates Wednesday evening.
Jacki Kelley, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said a fourth person may have been transported to a hospital from the Evergreen area in connection with the incident, though details about that individual’s condition were not immediately available.
Students described a frantic scene. Cameron Jones, a ninth-grader eating lunch outside, said he heard three sharp cracks, then a security guard shouted for students to run. “I never thought it could happen here,” he told reporters, still shaken.
Parents raced to the area as alerts and text messages started coming through. Jen Weber said her freshman son messaged her from campus. She’d long feared this kind of emergency—“when, not if,” she said—but never pictured Evergreen as the setting.
The school sits about 30 miles west of Denver in the foothills. The sheriff’s office has released few details about the students involved and is withholding identities due to their ages. Detectives are interviewing witnesses, reviewing camera footage, and processing evidence as they try to understand how the shooter obtained the firearm and what led up to the attack.
The tightly choreographed police response—rushing in, locating the threat, and moving students out—reflects active-shooter tactics that became standard after Columbine, which happened in the same county in 1999. Wednesday’s response times, measured in minutes, are what agencies have trained toward for years.
Community shock, policy questions, and what comes next
Local leaders called the shooting heartbreaking and urged families to use counseling and crisis resources. Jefferson County Commissioners thanked first responders for moving quickly and said no child should fear going to school and no parent should wonder if their kid will make it home.
Colorado lawmakers also weighed in. Senate Assistant Majority Leader Lisa Cutter and Representative Tammy Story condemned the violence and said the focus must be protecting students. Their statements add fuel to a long-running Colorado debate over school safety and gun violence prevention.
Colorado has rolled out a series of measures in recent years aimed at reducing gun violence—extreme risk protection orders, safe storage rules, and other steps that supporters say can keep guns away from dangerous situations. Critics argue those laws don’t address the root causes or are unevenly enforced. Cases like this one tend to restart the argument from both sides: how schools secure buildings, how families store firearms, and how quickly warning signs are recognized and acted on.
Here’s what we know so far, and what investigators are still working to answer:
- Timeline: Shots were reported around 12:30 p.m. Deputies arrived within two minutes and contacted the suspect by about the five-minute mark.
- Weapon: A revolver was used, according to the sheriff’s office.
- Victims: Two students were wounded; one is in critical condition, the other improved to fair and was transferred. The shooter died by suicide later that night.
- Police actions: No officers fired their weapons during the incident.
- Possible additional patient: Authorities said a fourth person may have been transported from the Evergreen area; details remain unclear.
- Motive: Unknown. Detectives are interviewing witnesses and reviewing evidence.
Students and staff will carry the weight of what happened long after the sirens fade. Schools typically stagger the return to routine—smaller groups first, extra counselors on campus, and trauma-informed support for classrooms most affected. Families often face a different pace at home, balancing reassurance with honest conversations about fear and safety.
The ripple effects extend beyond one campus. Evergreen’s shooting lands in a state that has lived this cycle before. Each time, the same questions come back: Did anyone see signs? Could a safe storage rule have made a difference? Are security upgrades actually helping? What about the mental health pressure on teenagers who feel isolated or angry?
Even small details can matter in the coming days—who the shooter spoke to, how the gun was accessed, whether anyone reported concerns. Investigators will map the minutes before the shots and the months before them, looking for points where intervention might have changed the outcome.
For now, families are waiting on hospital updates and investigators’ findings. The sheriff’s office is expected to release more information once next of kin notifications and key interviews are finished. Until then, the facts are simple and devastating: two students injured, a young life ended, and a community forced to add the Evergreen High School shooting to a list no town wants to be on.
