Colorado Students Rally Around Shooting Victim
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Karl Gehring/The Denver Post via Getty Images (CENTENNIAL, Colo.) — The classmates of a 17-year-old Colorado high school shooting victim are rallying around her as she remains hospitalized with severe injuries.
Claire Davis, a senior at Arapahoe High School, was critically wounded when she was shot at point blank range by Karl Pierson on Friday.
Pierson, 18, was armed with a shotgun, machete and had Molotov cocktails in his backpack, police said.
According to police, Pierson was seeking “revenge” on the school’s debate team instructor, Tracy Murphy, who had dropped him from the team.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said Davis did not have a chance to escape.
“She is an innocent young lady, and she was an innocent victim of an evil act of violence,” Robinson said. “She probably was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Davis’ father told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver on Saturday night that the teenager was “not doing very well” but he was grateful for the community’s outpouring of support.
Officials at Littleton Adventist Hospital told ABC News that Davis was still in critical condition with severe head trauma at the hospital Sunday.
As Davis remains in the hospital, her classmates have rallied around her.
A fellow senior Chris Davis, who is not related to Claire Davis, started to collect donations on behalf of her family. Chris Davis said in the last 48 hours he has already collected $4,000 and plans to make online donations possible on Monday. The senior decided to put together the fund as a way to cope with the violent events of the week. Although he said did not know the 17-year-old victim personally, he said he often saw her since her locker was near his.
On Saturday hundreds of students held a candlelight vigil in part to support Davis. The teens sang their school song, said prayers and allowed each other to speak. On Twitter, friends and supporters posted messages of support with the hashtag #prayersforclaire.
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