John Castillo stared through teary eyes across a Douglas County courtroom Wednesday at the teens suspected of killing his son when gunfire erupted inside of STEM School Highlands Ranch the day before.
For more than two hours Wednesday, Castillo sat through the initial court hearings for the teens arrested in connection to the shooting. Investigators suspect that the two teens brought handguns into the school of 1,800 students and opened fire inside — killing Castillo’s son, Kendrick, and injuring eight others.
The shooting has once again plummeted the U.S. into discussions about gun violence, access to firearms and school safety. Politicians gave condolences and expressed outrage. Parents wrote online of the fear they felt sending their kids to school. STEM School students still struggled to understand how their calm campus became the most recent example of violent tragedy. Two vigils were held Wednesday night.
One of the shooting suspects, Devon Erickson, sat hunched in his chair throughout his hearing where he was advised of the charges he is being held on. As the proceeding continued, the skinny 18-year-old with shaggy black and pink hair curled farther into himself — his bangs nearly touching the defense table by the end.
RELATED: STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting: What we know
Alec McKinney — who is charged under the legal name of Maya Elizabeth McKinney but uses male pronouns and the name Alec — sat up straight in his chair.
McKinney’s attorney offered some clarity to his client’s gender identity during the court hearing after Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock identified the Juvenile suspect as a boy immediately after the shooting and then as a girl during an early Wednesday morning news conference.
The 16-year-old did not appear to speak or look at his mother, who sat next to him. When McKinney left the courtroom, his mother remained at the table alone, crying.
Both teens remained in custody without bond following the hearing. District Attorney George Brauchler will announce formal charges against the two at a hearing Friday. Brauchler also will announce then whether he will charge McKinney as an adult, which would allow prosecutors to pursue longer sentences and make it easier for the public to track the case.
Many details of the shooting remained unclear more than 24 hours later. Brauchler and other authorities declined to say what they believed the suspects’ motives were, how they obtained two handguns and whether anybody had reported suspicions of the pair’s plans. District Court Judge Theresa Slade sealed Erickson’s case file at the request of the teen’s attorney and Brauchler. Documents related to McKinney’s case remain hidden because he is a juvenile.
Students and parents described heroic acts by three STEM School seniors who risked their lives to stop the shooter. Castillo died because he tackled one of the shooters with two of his classmates. Castillo had three days of high school left and was planning to attend Arapahoe Community College in the fall.
Brauchler said he had been inside the STEM School and compared it to being inside Columbine High School and Arapahoe High School after shootings. Tuesday’s school shooting was the fifth such incident in Colorado since April 1999.
“They all have a similar feeling — it’s like life interrupted,” he said.
‘I don’t know what to feel right now’
Junior Jack Denler sat in the courtroom Wednesday to watch his classmates’ hearings. He knew Erickson as well as many of the injured students. He said Erickson was well-liked.
“I just wanted to see,” he said. “I don’t know what to feel right now.”
Another student, Aiden Beatty, said that Erickson worked as a vocal instructor and acted in school musicals. Beatty and Erickson formed multiple rock bands together. Beatty said he couldn’t imagine his band mate committing such horror. Nothing on Erickson’s public social media pointed toward violence.
“In my mind he’s pretty much dead,” Beatty said. “He’s effectively killed himself, too, in a terrible and unimaginable way.”
McKinney was transgender and had struggled with personal problems, freshman Ben Lemos said. The two shared a study hall, a lunch group and mutual friends, Lemos said.
“He just had a negative experience with school,” he said.
McKinney is being held at the Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center in Englewood.
During the hearing, McKinney’s defense attorney, Ara Ohanian, asked that his client’s handcuffs be removed. The judge declined, citing what she had read in court filings.
Slade also withheld bond, saying, “The court does find that Mr. McKinney is a danger to others.”
Panic and confusion
Even 24 hours later, parents and students at the school expressed shock and outrage that a shooting could happen in their community.
“I guess we felt STEM was as safe as any other school could be,” said Steve Holley, parent of a sixth grader at the school. “You never think it’s going to happen in your community.”
Students who were inside the school during the shooting said they knew instantly that something was wrong. The school went on lock down shortly after 1:53 p.m. Teachers huddled their students under desks and in closets.
“From the start, it was just a feeling of panic and confusion,” Lemos said. He clung to a friend while they hid behind a teacher’s desk.
Brendan Bialy saw a student walk into his 12th grade English class and pull out a gun. Bialy immediately launched himself at the shooter, whom he declined to identify. Castillo and another classmate, Joshua Jones, attacked the gunman as well and disarmed him. It was a split-second decision, Bialy said.
“The gunman was there, then he was against the wall, and he didn’t know what the hell hit him,” Bialy said.
Castillo died protecting his classmates. Jones was shot twice, but was recovering at home Wednesday, his family said in a statement. Bialy was physically unscathed.
Law enforcement arrived at the school within two minutes and disarmed the suspects after a struggle. A Douglas County Sheriff’s Office substation is less than a mile from the school. They took the shooters into custody without firing their weapons.
As law enforcement circled the school, hundreds of parents flocked to the perimeter to look for a sign of their child. Police escorted students through the halls, past pools of blood and broken glass. Younger kids emerged hand in hand. Older kids were instructed to come with their hands up.
On Wednesday, a bouquet of flowers and eight candles lay outside the school. The nearby neighborhood and businesses were quiet. If it weren’t for the sheriff’s vehicles, the police caution tape and the TV crews, a passerby may not have known what had happened the day before.
The school district’s crisis support for students and their families will continue Thursday. Healing will come slowly. The school will remain closed the remainder of the week.
“We failed the 18-year-old who gave his life to save our kids,” Holley, the parent, said.
Reporters Jessica Seaman and Meg Wingerter contributed to this report.
Story updated, 11:23 a.m., May 9: Information about where Alec McKinney would potentially be jailed if charged as an adult has been removed from this story because it was inaccurate.
