Another day, another school shooting. Colorado police say that a student opened fire at a Denver-area high school this afternoon, injuring at least one classmate before taking his own life.
Police are still on the scene at Arapahoe High School, a public school located in Centennial, roughly 12 miles from downtown Denver and only 8 miles from Columbine High School. But Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson laid out the working theory for reporters this afternoon: The gunman was a student at the school who arrived targeting a specific teacher, asking for them by name. The other student, now in critical condition, is believed to have been shot after he or she confronted the gunman. The shooter is then believed to have turned the gun on himself.
A third student is being treated for minor injuries, although it is not clear whether he or she was shot.
By ABC News’ count, today’s was the 19th school shooting to occur in the United States since Sandy Hook.
We’ll no doubt be getting plenty of info in the hours and days to come. For now, keep in mind that early information from breaking news situations like this—even those details that come from police—can prove misleading (at best), so for now it’s best to treat any specifics with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Adding to what was already an intense situation was where the incident happened, only a short drive from the site of one of the most infamous school shootings in U.S. history, and when, nearly a year to the day of the tragedy in Newtown.
According to Colorado’s 9News, an NBC affiliate, Arapahoe High School is a part of Littleton Public Schools, and has around 2,200 students and 70 different classrooms on a campus that covers a 254,000-square-foot area.
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