Update: Suspect found dead after two staff members shot at Denver's East High School

Updated at 9:33 a.m. March 23, 2023

The police have identified the suspect of a shooting Wednesday at East High School as 17-year-old Austin Lyle.

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero issued a letter to parents stating that he has directed the Denver Police Department to bring armed officers back into comprehensive public high schools for the rest of the school year. The Denver School Board previously voted to remove armed officers in the wake of the George Floyd protests.

According to the Denver Police Department, the suspect's car was found in Park County Wednesday evening. The suspect was found dead near the car. The cause of death is believed to be suicide.

On Wednesday morning, the Denver Police Department received a 911 call reporting two administrators at East High School had been shot by a student armed with a handgun.

Both victims were deans at the school and were performing a routine safety and security check with the student suspect when the shooting happened.

During a press conference, Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas said staff were conducting a weapons search of the suspect, who has a safety plan in place, when the shooting occurred. Front office administrators searched the suspect for weapons on a regular basis but no weapon had ever been found before nor had the suspect ever been expelled from school. When a handgun was discovered on the suspect Wednesday, the suspect is alleged to have shot both faculty members before running from the school.

Thomas declined to provide details about the suspect's safety plan or why it was in place.

The two injured staff members received treatment for their wounds almost instantly because paramedics were at the school treating another student who had had an allergic reaction earlier in the day.

This comes less than a month after the shooting death of an East High School student, Luis Garcia, outside the school. The school board previously voted to get rid of student resource officers in the wake of the George Floyd protests in 2020.

Robyn Vincent

/

KUNC

According to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero, the district administration plans to place two armed officers in Denver public high schools for the remainder of the school year.

East High School will be closed for the remainder of the week following Wednesday's shooting. As a part of the school evacuation plan, parents were instructed to pick up students from a designated location once police deemed the premises secure Wednesday. Students who drive cars were escorted to their cars and students who use buses were held until their buses could arrive.

Mayor Hancock released an official statement after the press conference calling for more common sense gun laws.