An 18-year-old student was killed and eight other were injured when two students opened fire inside a school in Denver city of the US state of Colorado, authorities said.
The two suspects were apprehended after the shooting at theSTEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday, said Douglas County Sheriff TonySpurlock.
Out of the two, the adult suspect was named as 18-year-oldDevon Erickson. They both are believed to be students at the school, Spurlockwas cited as saying by CNN.
The shooting started in the high school just before 2 p.m.The suspects walked into the school and “got deep inside the school,”engaging students in two separate classrooms. One student, an 18-year-old male,was killed in the school, said Deputy Cocha Heyden, a spokeswoman for thesheriff’s office.
The incident rattled an area that just marked the 20thanniversary of the deadly shooting at Columbine High School, about seven milesaway from the STEM school. Thirteen people were gunned by two teenagers in theColumbine attack.
Holly Nicholson-Kluth, undersheriff for the Douglas CountySheriff’s Office, said the Tuesday shooting started in the middle schoolportion of the campus and an administrator called the police after hearingshots.
Spurlock said that a handgun was used in the attack and thatthe suspects were “not on the radar” of law enforcement.
“Tragically, this community (in Colorado) and thosesurrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts ofviolence,” the White House said in a statement.Authorities were working to obtain searchwarrants for the suspects’ homes, officials said.