HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (AP) - The Latest on the shooting at a Colorado school that killed one student and injured eight (all times local):
12:50 p.m.
A law enforcement official says a security guard fired his gun during this week’s shooting at a charter school in a Denver suburb.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the official was not authorized to release the information.
The official did not say whether the guard shot anybody at STEM School Highlands Ranch on Tuesday.
Robert Burk, an attorney for the guard, declined to confirm reports by news organizations that authorities are investigating whether the guard fired at a sheriff’s deputy and wounded a student.
Burk says the guard, whom he did not name, took decisive action that helped saved lives.
Boss Level High Protection owner Grant Whitus has said his employee confronted and apprehended one of the two suspects in the shooting that killed one student and wounded eight others.
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Associated Press writer P. Solomon Banda contributed to this report.
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10:20 a.m.
The Brady gun control group that organized a vigil for victims and survivors of the Colorado school shooting that killed a student and injured eight has issued a statement detailing its apology for the event that was criticized as politicizing the tragedy.
The statement says the group is “is deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate.”
It adds that the group knows this “is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence.”
Wednesday night’s vigil in a packed high school gym included speeches by presidential hopeful Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, both Democrats.
Some students walked out in protest. Students were eventually allowed to speak.
The suspects in Tuesday’s shooting have been identified by authorities as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and a 16-year-old who prosecutors identified as Maya McKinney but whose attorney said uses male pronouns and the name Alec.
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9 a.m.
Organizers of a vigil for victims and survivors of the Colorado school shooting that killed a student and injured eight are apologizing after students complained the event politicized the tragedy and ignored them.
Wednesday night’s vigil was organized by the student arm of the Brady gun control group and included speeches by presidential hopeful Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, both Democrats.
At one point, someone shouted that students should be allowed to speak and organizers talked with students in a hallway about how to include them.
Some students chanted and others railed against the media and called for remembering Kendrick Castillo, the student killed while trying to stop one of the gunman Tuesday.
Students eventually were invited to speak.
Teacher Emily Muellenberg told Colorado Public Radio that organizers had reached out to students before the event but didn’t hear back.
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12 a.m.
The three students who disarmed a gunman in a Colorado school shooting leapt their desks without a word and with no thought for their own safety when they spotted the gun.
One of the three recounted how they slammed the teenager against the wall and struggled with him when shots rang out. Kendrick Castillo led the charge but slumped to the ground.
His close friend Brendan Bial wrestled the gun away and called to Castillo.
Bialy told reporters there was no response as he recalled what happened at STEM School Highlands Ranch.
Bialy said his friend Kendrick “went out as a hero.”
Authorities said the actions of Castillo, Bialy and Joshua Jones minimized bloodshed from Tuesday’s attack at the school south of Denver that wounded eight students and killed the 18-year-old Castillo.
The attackers were identified as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and a 16-year-old who prosecutors identified as Maya McKinney but whose attorney said uses male pronouns and the name Alec.
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