The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Golden, Colorado, identified Desmond Holly as the teenager who shot two of his classmates at the Jefferson County High School before fatally shooting himself on Wednesday.
Authorities released his photo in a post on X hours after Dr. Brian Blackwood of the CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital said in a Thursday morning news briefing that one of the two students attacked by 16-year-old Holly remains in critical condition, while the other student, who had non-life-threatening injuries, was in stable condition and no longer in their care. He also confirmed that Holly died at the hospital on Wednesday night.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said they received the first reports of the school shooting at Evergreen High School, located about 30 miles southwest of Denver, at 12:24 p.m., according to USA Today. Holly was reportedly armed with a handgun and fired shots inside and outside the school.
In a statement Wednesday, Tracy Dorland, Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent, said she was “devastated” and “heartbroken” by the shooting at the school, which serves approximately 900 students.
“No child should ever face this kind of danger, and no community should be asked to absorb this kind of pain,” Dorland said.
“We cannot pretend this is just another tragic incident. The pain of this incident reopens old wounds. I know there are many in our Jeffco community hurting and grieving tonight, in Evergreen and beyond. The urgency [of] this moment demands is undeniable. Student safety is not an abstract issue for us in Jeffco. It is the most important responsibility we hold. Safety is our number one priority every day, and yet, here we are once again, grieving with a community over gun violence impacting our students.”
A message on the school’s website said classes at the school were canceled for the rest of the week.
Holly’s motive for the shooting is still being investigated, but deputies suggest he was “radicalized by some extremist network.”
Jefferson County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said Holly lived with his family on a large mountain property on a private road just outside of Kittridge, The Denver Post reported. She also said on the day of the shooting, he travelled on the school bus and it was not immediately clear how he got the revolver used in the shooting.
Kelley explained that the 16-year-old had “quite a bit of ammunition” with him during the shooting and he fired his gun many times at the school during the attack.
“He would fire and reload, fire and reload,” she said. “This went on and on. He tried to find new targets. He came up to a roadblock on many of those doors — he couldn’t get to those kids.”
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