Colorado Police on Arapahoe High School Shooting: ‘Deliberate, ‘Planned Event’
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Craig F. Walker / The Denver Post(CENTENNIAL, Colo.) — New information has been released by police investigating the deadly school shooting Arapahoe High School in Colorado on Dec. 13. Colorado police say a side door that should have been locked– but was always propped open– allowed 18-year-old shooter Karl Pierson to enter the building without passing the school security guard.
At a press conference Monday, Sheriff Grayson Robinson said Pierson, armed with a shotgun, 125 rounds ammunition, a machete, and three Molotov cocktails, immediately fired rounds into the school hallway.
He shot 17-year-old Claire Davis, then headed to the library where he fired another set of rounds before committing suicide.
Sheriff Robinson said, “From the time the murderer entered the school until his body was lying on the floor of the library was less than one minute and 20 seconds.”
Davis later died from her wounds.
Police say Pierson had a list of rooms written on his arm, including the library where he fired shots and a Latin phrase that translates as “the dye is cast.”
“There was no question that this was a very deliberate and planned event and that the outcome that this individual had in mind is very clear to us: maximum harm to the maximum number of people,” Sheriff Robinson said.
Police said the school shooting could have been much worse if the school hadn’t responded quickly with a lock down protocol.
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