Did bullying cause Colorado school shooting?

DENVER: A suburb here sought answers yesterday as to why two students walked into their school and opened fire with handguns, injuring eight people and killing one just a few miles from where a school massacre took place 20 years ago.

Two surviving victims of the Tuesday attack at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch remained in serious condition, medical officials said. Another was stable and five had been discharged from hospital.

An 18-year-old male was pronounced dead at the scene, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said. He later identified one shooter as Devon Erickson, 18.

Erickson, and another suspect, identified only as a juvenile, opened fire in two classrooms and were arrested within minutes at the public charter school, about 40km south of here.

Colorado ABC affiliate Denver 7, citing law enforcement sources, said a combination of factors, including revenge and anger, spurred the attack.

One suspect faced bullying for wanting to change from female to male and identifying as a male, the station said.

The shooting occurred less than a month after the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in nearby Littleton, about 8km from the Highlands Ranch school.

What happened inside the STEM school remains unclear.

Spurlock said there was a “struggle” as officers entered the building and some students said one victim was shot in the chest as he tried to tackle a shooter.

A man, who identified himself as Fernando Montoya, said his 17year-old son, a junior at STEM, was shot three times.

“He said a guy pulled a pistol out of a guitar case and started to shoot,” Montoya told Denver 7.