A student who was under a “safety plan” and agreed to get patted down every morning shot two staff members at a Denver high school Wednesday and got away, authorities said.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said police were called around 9:50 a.m. and discovered the injured East High School administrators.
“During that search, apparently a weapon was recovered,” he said. “A handgun was retrieved and several shots were fired.”
The student is a minor and the police have not identified him.
Thomas told reporters that the student was under a “security plan” that required him to be patted down every morning. He ran away from the school but a search is on for him.
The weapon was not recovered at the school.
Police said the student was never found with a weapon before Wednesday morning’s incident. He did not say how long the student had been under a security plan, under which he was searched every morning in the school’s office area away from students and other staff.
Denver officials did not explain why the student was under the protection plan, citing federal student privacy laws.
Mayor Michael Hancock said one of the employees is in stable condition and the other had surgery. The school district confirmed that the two adults involved in the shooting were faculty members.
Denver Public Schools told parents that students were in their third-period classes on lockdown. The school will begin a controlled release once students are allowed to go home by Denver Police.
NBC affiliate CUSA reported that East High School had recently lost a student, Luis Garcia, who was found shot to death while sitting in a car near campus on February 13. The death of Garcia, a football player at the school, sparked a student-led campaign for gun safety reform.
According to KUSA, the students staged a walkout on March 3 and went to the state capitol to demand legislative action.