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Soldier4Christ
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« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2006, 08:42:44 PM » |
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School standoff over, gunman reported dead
Student hostage critically wounded, airlifted to hospital
"Code white" led to deadline school standoff
An armed gunman holding students hostage at Platte Canyon High School shot one teenaged girl, then killed himself as SWAT members burst into the room where he was holed up, according to Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener.
The student was flown by Flight for Life to St. Anthony Hospital, in critical condition. A spokesperson for the hospital said she believed the girl had been shot in the head, but said her family requested no further information be released.
Neither the gunman nor the hostages have been identified.
Lynn Bigham, a friend of the injured student, described her as 16, with a twin brother. She described the girl as "sweet and affectionate."
Initially, six students were taken hostage just before noon, in a second-floor classroom, she said, but four were released before the standoff came to an end, around 3:45 p.m.
Wegener said that negotiations with the man were initiated shortly after he walked into the school, carrying a handgun. Wegener did not know if he targeted the classroom purposely or at random. Students heard "Code white" over the intercom, which was the signal to teachers that the school was on lockdown.
The suspect's primary demand during negotiations was for law enforcement to back off. SWAT teams had a limited visibility because the gunman was using one of the hostages to shield himself, and he grew increasingly agitated. At one point, he set a 4 p.m. deadline, but around 3:30 p.m. he broke off communications. That's when the decision was made to move in, Wegener said. "A tactical solution needed to be done in an effort to save the two hostages," he said.
"We have almost no information on this suspect," Jefferson County spokesperson Jacki Kelley said, while the standoff was still underway. "We don't know who he is or what he wants."
Kelley said the gunman was an adult male, between 35 and 50 years old.
Park County authorities requested help from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department's bomb squad and SWAT team, said Jim Shires, Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman. Kelley said more than 20 jurisdictions had sent investigators. Shires said Park County is a small department and doesn't have a complete SWAT team.
As the standoff dragged on, frantic parents searched for information about the status of their children.
Televised images showed students lined up and boarding school buses in an orderly way, near the school, a few hours after the standoff began.
Cheers erupted shortly before 3 p.m., when the buses arrived at Deer Creek Elementary School, the designated pickup spot. Parents waved joyfully, many shouting, "I love you," when they spotted their children through the bus windows.
Sarah Mendoza was overcome with emotion when she spotted her son who attends Fitzsimmons Middle School.
"This is a parent's worst nightmare," she said of the standoff. "I can't tell you how happy I am."
Deer Creek's principal, Paul Sandos, was directing parents and students to a nearby hillside, segregating groups by high school, middle school and elementary school.
"They're pretty frantic," Sandos said of the parents. "But they're doing really good, considering what they have been through."
Patti Browning's son was on a field trip to Denver when he called her to let her know he was OK.
"That was a relief," she said, "but I'm still worried for all the others."
Dawn Mack, whose daughter attends Conifer High School, was at Deer Creek to check on her friends' children. She had heard all sorts of rumors, including that some children were being molested by the perpetrator.
"You don't know what's going on," Mack said. "You don't know what to believe...In that condition, your mind just goes out there."
Patti Browning added, "They should just get a microphone and tell everyone what's going on so that we all know what the truth is."
Bill Twyford of Bailey said he received a text message at 11:43 a.m. from his 15-year-old son, Billy, that said, "Hey, there's a gun-hijacking in our school right now. I'm fine. Bad situation, though."
Twyford says he hasn't heard from his son since then, and he wonders if school officials wouldn't let students continue to use their cell phones. He said he heard all kinds of "conflicting stories" about what has occurred.
A 4-mile stretch of U.S. 285 that was closed during the standoff is expected to remain closed until noon Thursday. "The investigation is ongoing and it is critical that citizens remain out of the immediate area as well as the surrounding area," said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gilbert Mares.
Residents are permitted to travel through the blocked stretch of 285 -- from Bailey to Shawnee -- if they show identification, Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said. Other motorists are able to circumvent the blocked portion by taking parallel Park County Road 64.
Trucks heading northbound on 285 are being directed off the highway at Fairplay; southbound trucks at Morrison.
During the standoff, at the area where the road was closed, parents were trying to get any kind of information they could about their children.
"We've had no phone calls from the district. We don't know what's going on," said Pat Bramelette, who has two children, one attending the high school, the other in middle school. His wife, Susan, said, "The most I got was off the bottom of the TV screen."
Lynn Setzer, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County School District, said four district schools that border the Platte Canyon School District were put on lockdown. Those were Conifer High School, West Jefferson Middle School, West Jefferson Elementary School and Elk Creek Elementary School. Those students were to be allowed to leave at the end of the school day.
Setzer said the district learned of the incident about 12:15 p.m.
Delia Ciano was worried about her son Dominick, 20, who is a special education student at the high school.
"He won't know what's going on," she said. "He won't understand."
Ciano said she knows the staff at the school would do whatever they could do to protect the students.
"The teachers will give their lives for these kids," she said.
Other parents were in a state of disbelief that their school was part of a hostage situation.
"Who is going to go into a school and do this?" said Susan Mueller, who has two children at the high school and one at Fitzsimmons Middle School. "I guess nobody is safe."
Denver resident Kim Martin said she was listening to her police scanner this afternoon and heard talk about hostages.
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