Eight Students Wounded, 2 in Custody in Colorado School Shooting

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Two students opened fire Tuesday inside a charter school in an affluent suburban Denver community not far from Columbine High School, wounding eight teenagers and spreading minutes of terror before they were taken into custody with no injuries, authorities said. Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said the pair walked into the STEM School Highlands Ranch and began shooting students in two classrooms. Within minutes, deputies at a nearby sheriff's department substation entered the school and arrested the two suspects after a struggle. "As officers were arriving at the school, they could still hear gunshots," Douglas County Undersheriff Holly Nicholson-Kluth said. "I have to believe that the quick response of the officers that got inside that school helped save lives," Spurlock said. He did not identify the suspects, but said they are an adult and a minor who were not previously known to authorities. Authorities planned to search their homes and a vehicle at the school, he said. The STEM School Highlands Ranch is a public charter school with more than 1,850 students in kindergarten through 12th grades, The Highlands Ranch community of about 96,000 people is about 15 miles south of Denver.The shooting comes nearly three weeks after neighboring Littleton marked the grim 20th anniversary of the Columbine school massacre that killed 13 people. The two schools are separated by about 7 miles in adjacent communities south of Denver. Student Christian Paulson told television station KMGH that he was in study hall when he saw kids running and shouting, "School shooter!" "And I'm like, what? Is this real or fake? And then I just went after them," Christian Paulson said. "And apparently, this is all real. And I tried to run with my life, but I'm out of breath."   Continue reading...