♪ >> he left that school in an effort to try to encourage the shooter to also leave the school with the focus of safety and security and well-being of our students in his mind. when that happened one student was shot by the shooter, and that student is currently under serious condition undergoing surgery. a second victim was shot. that individual suffered a very minor gunshot wound, and is being treated at a local hospital. we believe that individual will be released before the end of the evening. our active shooter protocol was immediately initiated by the

school resource officer. the officer went to the threat as trained and the responding deputies and police officers also activated our regional active protocol. that is to go to the threat and try to eliminate the threat while keeping students and staff safe. within 20 minutes of the time of the report of the shooting our deputies found the suspect dead inside the school. currently right now it appears to us that shooter is dead as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. however, that determination remains under investigation, and we will continue to look at those details. at this point in time we have victims advocates with the families and the victims at the hospital, and we have investigators with the family of the shooter. we're beginning our investigation now as a crime scene. we have evacuated the entire school. the school was evacuated very slowly, deliberately and

meticulously. we wanted to insure that all of our students, number one, were safe, and secondly, we wanted to ensure that we had no other suspect it's or individuals that were collaborators with our shooter. although it will remain under investigation we at this point in time we believe the shooter that is deceased is the only individual that was armed in this school today and came here to cause harm to the students and/or faculty of this facility. however, that remains under investigation. we also have assets coming from the colorado bureau of investigation to assist us with our responsibilities to process this crime scene, collect evidence, and do the work that we need to do so that we can come to a final conclusion of why this happened, and how it happened. at this point in time we have assets across the south metro area talking with people who either know the suspect or have some association with him, and we're trying to collect that

information. as i indicated, the school was activated methodically and deliberately. we evacuated the students to shepherd's of the hill church. quickly that facility became overwhelmed with the number of students and parents who were trying to reunite, and we had to select a second reunification school at euclid middle school located an euclid, colorado. that is the distance from here, but it is the most convenient and the largest facility that we could come up with quickly in order to do the work that we need to do quickly and efficiently. we're in the process of reunif reunifying our students and families. we are in the process now of putting together a crisis intervention team that is available for staff and students

of arapaho high school as long as that group of cloud crisis intervention professional are needed. we'll work with colleagues across the state that provide crisis intervention and mental health assistance to anyone who needs it as a result of this tragic shooting. i will be back with you in a few moments with questions. but before i answer any questions, i would like superintendent of schools scott murphy, to join me and make some comments, please. >> can he stand next to you to take advantage of the microphone. >> can you step up a little bit closer. thank you. >> our thoughts, our prayers are with all the families. we're giving the care that we

need to, to families moving forward. it's a very difficult day for arapaho high school. >> governor, thank you for joining us. >> i'm not sure what i can add. obviously our hearts go out to arapah high school. this is an all too familiar sequence where you have gunshots, parents racing to the school and unspeakable horror in a place of learning. and in this case we saw the incredible training and preparation of our first responders. i give sheriff robinson, they had this trained so that again officers were all across south metro area were trained in how to go immediately into that school, and to make sure that the perpetrator, that this kid

was--the officers were right with him. that was a world of change in the way response used to happen, and it says volumes about these guys. our hearts and prayers are with the entire arapaho school community and we'll do what we can to help get them through this. >> i'll try to answer questions. there are some questions that clearly i'm not in a position to answer because of the ongoing investigation. but i will certainly as i usually try to tell you when i can and cannot. >> i heard there was a cause of concern. >> we'll look at every aspect and detail that may be associated with the suspect. not only his locker, anything that he may have frequented in the school and very frankly, his home as well.

>> locker number 444. >> we have no idea. >> the teacher left the school immediately. do you know about the leadership between him and the student, and why he chose to leave? >> that's still a matter of investigation of putting th whae relationship of the shooting and the student was. he left arapaho high school, and when he came to the high school he immediately asked for that teacher and askedder for that teacher by name. as soon as the teacher realized that, he departed the school. he took himself away from the school with an effort to try to encourage the shooter to go with him. >> what can you tell bus the student who was shot. how did that occur. >> we don't know the details. that's still a matter under investigation. we do know that student suffered a serious gunshot wound. we believe the student is still in surgery in a local hospital.

we certainly share our thoughts and our prayers with her and her family. >> what can you tell us about explosives and molotov cocktails. >> certainly as part of our protocol, the bomb squad from the sheriff department respond it's initially from the fact that we never know, and we want to ere on the side of more assets instead of fewer. we believed we had one device in the school. initially it was reported to be a molotov cocktail. but my bomb squad is identifying that and we'll have more information the next briefing we provide. >> tell us more about the shooter, age, class, name. >> he is a current school at arapaho high school. i will not release information i will not identify him at this time. when it is appropriate i will identify the shooter. >> what about his age?

>> i won't provide age information relative to the shooter until i'm prepared to do so relative to the ongoing investigation. >> what about the student-- >> you were talking about the west side school where the shooter entered. give us a sense, is this the office area, the exits or entrances. >> the west side--the question was the configuration of the school on the west side. the west side of this school is typically made up of the student parking lot. it is an area that has at least two and probably three if the kids are real innovative, different entrances and exits that can be used. it goes to the immediate area of the gymnasium and pool on the west side. that gives you th the configuration. >> who did the student ask for the teacher. >> he asked the other students in the specific area. >> how is it that no teacher or administrator encountered this

student first. how did this student get to the other students first? >> first off you have to understand that this is a high school. these young men and women who are here to be educated come and go fairly freely. they have down time and breaks in their day. they're moving in and about the school on a regular basis. certainly as the individual entered the school, he asked for the teacher immediately from the students who were in the area. there were no other teachers in the area. >> was the gun visible at that time? >> the suspect was carrying a-- [ overhead plane noise ] >> the student who entered the high school was armed with a shotgun. i'm not at liberty to discuss the weapon at this point but he was armed with a shotgun. he made no effort to hide it or conceal it. he carried it into the school as he entered the school. >> was it the other students who alerted the teacher? >> no, the word god around immediately that he was looking

for the teacher. >> an active shooter protocol, is that something that started right after columbine or the last several years. >> clearly the active shooter protocol has to do with going to the threat and not waiting. it is protocol that has been trained across the state of colorado, not just in one or two local agencies, but we not only train in individual agencies but we come together regionally, and we train on these particular protocols. i will remind you of training programs that we put together in exercises around operation mountain guardian. several months ago that had to do with active shooter. those protocols unfortunately, have had to be used far, far, far, too many times in colorado and across the united states because of these strategic episodes where people decide they have to even up the score

with a weapon. >> was there an sro. >> the s ro immediately responded to the area of the threat. >> can you tell us about the confrontation. >> initially we were told there was a confrontation between the shooter and the student wounded. it appears that was not accurate. the student was simply in the area of the shooter and was shot at the time that the shooter came through the school. >> can you describe where the person was shot? >> i will not discuss the wounds or any information about the victims at this point. >> how was he able to get into the school before he took his own life. >> the shooter went quite a ways into the school because we found his body in the internal portion of the school in a classroom. >> was there any law enforcement weapons discharged? >> there were no discharged weapons in the school. the deputy sheriffs and the police officers that responded and reacted to this active

shooter were adequately armed. they were armed with urban street rifles and service weapons, which is part of our protocols. they entered the facility with the absolute responsibility and purpose of eliminating the threat. they quickly worked the school to try to find that threat, and as soon as they found the individual down they realized what the situation was. >> sheriff, will your folks or cbio fbi search the home of the shooter looking for any notes or evidence that might have been seen coming? >> the question was if we'll search the home of the shooter, we'll conduct a thorough and complete investigation. we will take our time to insure that it is done right. we will not do it quick. part of our protocol will be a thorough investigation, which includes a search of the suspects home, a search of areas where the suspect may have had access to other weapons or material that would have motivated him to do this tragic

act, and we'll search portions of the school that he would have had individual and immediate access to. >> is there any indication that this is tied to the anniversary of sandy hook. >> no indication that this is at all tied to sandy hook. simply something that we'll look into. always an issue that we have to focus our attentions on. >> is there a vehicle being searched in the parking lot that he drove here. >> if he brought a vehicle to this school it will be searched and it will be rendered safe first and then it will be searched. >> the shooting happened in the immediate west entry of the school. i don't know how many shots were fired. part of what our investigators will be trying to conclude. >> and did the suspect have a class with this particular teacher? did they know each other? >> they clearly had a relationship. the degree and level of that relationship is yet to be determined. something that we'll talk about in days, not hours to come. >> will you identify that teacher? >> what about the student.

>> i don't have any information. >> how long before class resume? >> i'll certainly leave that to the school board and to the superintendent, and i'm sure that's an issue they'll discuss in the hours to come and they'll make a decision. i'll take three more questions. >> you said that earlier you said that there were no other accomplices. have there been accomplices or collaborators identified, and secondly, there was no threats made to the school prior, not by this person or another person who you perhaps investigated? >> first off, the question was were there other threats? which don't know yet. no threats that we're aware of to this school or teacher, but that's part of what we're trying to investigate. at my 1:45 briefing i told you that it appeared to us that there were no other co-conspirators and collaborators. it continues to appear to us that the shooter who is deceased was the lone actor in this tragic event, but we'll continue to try to con firm that and

confirm that information accurately. >> you said that he was talking with family and colleague, what did you mean by colleagues? >> family members, friends, anyone associated with this individual to whom he may have indicated days or weeks or months ago that this was on his mind. we'll interview anyone who may have been associated with our shooter over the last weeks or months. >> any idea how long everything will be shut down? >> i think that's a great question. we will keep this intersection and this immediate area shut down for the remainder of the night. i can't imagine we would open this area until shortly after 10:00 p.m. tonight. so folks that are traveling. >> all right, there we have it. that's the latest update that we have.

we apologize that we lost the signal, but i think we got the gist of that briefing, the new information that was made available to us. paul, why don't we do this. why don't we work through this information together. you're there on site at the briefing. i took copious notes here. i'll get started here and allow you to jump in with what you're learning additionally. the suspect they were talking about here was a student at arapaho high school. the student walked into the school brazenly, it sounds like to me. i don't know if that was your reading of it as well according to the sheriff, and that the student was armed with a shotgun, asked for a particular teacher by name. it sounds like the saving grace if we can put it in those terms at least at the moment was that the teacher, and this was highlighted by the sheriff on a couple of occasions, that the teacher once word got to the teacher that he was, in fact, the target, the teacher left the school. there was not, as we previously

thought, a confrontation between the shooter and the students who were wounded. one student was shot, and is in serious condition. a second student was shot as well. but those injuries are not considered life-threatening. and my understanding, paul, correct me if i'm wrong, that student could be released in just a couple of hours. >> that sounds correct. what we're understanding here, and i'm on the east side of the school at the intersection outside of arapaho high school. as you mentioned what the sheriff explained, this shooter walked in on the west entrance quite brazenly, armed with a shot gone, and asked by name for this teacher. now as you mentioned the sheriff praised the teacher's response. he called it a wise tactical decision to leave the school, and the teacher may have indicated that he was trying to get the student to follow him. the teacher may have even had the presence of mind not only to leave the school, but to try to draw the shooter out of the

school with him. apparently there was not a confrontation that led to the shooting. although there were two students wounded. his thoughts were with his family, suggesting that one of the victims is female. >> give us an idea where this is. this high school, and high schools across the country, they can be huge suggesting small cities. give us sense where it is in centennial, and how close it is in proximity to columbine. >> i was just about to mention it. we're not more than 10 to 12 miles away from columbine. we're really in the greater metropolitan area of denver. it's beautiful. the school itself is on top of a

rise. really, unobstructed views in almost all directions. it's a beautiful day, and as you mentioned it is a large complex. it is a big high school with several buildings and surrounded by athletic fields, strip malls, shopping centers, a typical suburban scene but today cordoned off in every direction with hundreds of police. >> that's what i want to get to with you, paul. if you would, take a moment and tell us about your drive up to that location. at what point did you start to run into the police response, and how would you describe the area around the school right now? >> well, ironically we were in colorado springs about to interview the sheriff as part of our new town an vary coverage talking to him specifically about the issues of guns in school and gun control.

then when we heard about this story we turned around and headed back north towards denver. as we got off i-25 and turned west almost from the highway we could see in the distance the cordoned of sirens flashing. and again this is a perimeter around the school probably a good quarter mile to a half mile in all four directions. >> we see the methodical deliberate way in which law enforcement removed students

from that school and took them--i don't know how close this is to where you're located right now--took them to a field. to a track around that field where there were several officers on hand searching each and every student. did you see any of this activity as you were arriving to the location? >> i did not, tony, that is a little bit of a distance away from us here. but what we can see at this time, there are still s.w.a.t. teams that are methodically patrolling around the school. it looks like they're not actively engaged in sweeping the school. it is our understanding that they swept the buye entire scho, and the students who were hiding in locked classrooms or in closets or sought refuge, they have been taken out of the school at this time. they were taken--i can see from here there is a long expanse of athletic field to the north behind the school, where the students, several of them fled, and then they were gathered.

most of them have been bussed to that reunification location at a lutheran church not far from him. just a moment ago a large convoy of buses left. those were empty, but just a few moments before that a full bus had left. there are still, as you can see here, students who are coming out of areas in the nearby shopping maul. there are parents, families all over the place walking around here just really all of them walking arm in arm, arms around shoulders, many of the students have run out of the school without their coach. they're bundled up in their parents clothes. it is quite an emotional scene even now. >> i'm curious as you drove up to the scene, the impressions help us get the sense and the tone and actions of this event. as you drove up to the scene was there chaos. the sheriff talked about an orderly movement of students out of the school, but as you're

driving up in the early moments of this, what did you see? did you see an ordinarily movement of people? did you see a little bit of chaos? did you see people who you could clearly identify as parents because they were emotive, or innocent bystanders who were taking in the scene of what was going on at the school, what did you see? >> there is a combination of that. and one thing that the sheriff did mention is that tragically that both in this area around denver and around the country now police departments and law enforcement agencies have experienced, they're prepared for this kind of thing. i would say that generally speaking the official response, the official presence that we can see here was quite orderly. it's not an exaggeration to say that there is really a small army of law enforcement that has cordoned off this area. they did it very quickly, and as

it stretched hundreds of yards around various locations there is a burger king around the corner where a number would appear to be school personnel had gathered. i saw a librarian. i saw a number of people who looked like teachers, hard to say for sure what they were doing, but they had gathered there, and they were speaking with law enforcement there inside that fast food establishment. they have since left. the presence now is stemming out in terms of civilians and people who do not seem to be associated with this scene. although when we arrived there were hundreds of people who were sort of gathering themselves, who maybe had either left the school or left the surrounding shopping malls and stores, which have already pretty much emptied out at this time since there is no way to come in as people are living this area are completely cordoned off. >> paul, if you would, i'm going to go through what we know at this point. if i left anything out that you deem to be important, don't hesitate to jump in here. if you're just joining us we're

taking a look at the scene here. whatever live pictures we can show you at this moment. are these live pictures? these are live pictures from centennial colorado. the scene of a school shooting earlier today we just received a briefing from the sheriff of arapaho county. his name is grayson robinson. he detailed what happened earlier in the day, and we can tell you that the suspect was a student at arapa ho high school. the student walked in to one of the west entrances of the school armed with a shotgun. visibly this was not a situation where the student who was attempting to hide the weapon. the student walked in armed with a shotgun, and asked other students in the immediate proximity for a particular teacher, called out a teacher by name. we understand that word quickly got to that teacher, that there was someone with i will intent

looking for him. and that teacher left the school, and as paul just mentioned a moment ago there is the thought that the teacher in leaving the school was attempting to draw the shooter out with him. we understand that there were two students shot. the first student is being treated at the hospital and the second student was injured with a minor wound and is expected to leave the hospital in a couple of hours. >> in the teacher leaving the school, it's not clear if the teacher spoke with them, but he lefwas so aware that he thoughto

draw the student out. but truly remarkable if that's the case. >> and just to pick up on that point, the school resource officer at arapaho high school responded according to protocol, and started to seek out the shooter. we understand that 20 minutes into this event the shooter was found dead apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. that is the information that we have now. our thanks to paul beaman. let's take a quick break. we'll be back in a moment.

(vo) viewfinder. fresh perspectives through the lens of local filmmakers around the globe. ♪