Evergreen High School Shooting Suspect "Radicalized by Extremist Network"

Preliminary investigation into the suspect who shot and injured two fellow students at Evergreen High School on September 10 found that he was “radicalized by some extremist network,” according to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley.

“The details of that will be (released) down the road, but we wanted to at least give you that much about mindset for him,” Kelley said in a press conference outside of the school yesterday.

The Denver Post reported later that social media accounts apparently belonging to the suspect were filled with white supremacist content, posts exhibiting a fascination with mass shootings and reposted videos that “were explicitly antisemitic or depicted people in Nazi uniforms.”

Officials have identified the shooting suspect as sixteen-year-old Desmond Holly, who died at a Lakewood hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect’s family has been cooperative with authorities as they investigate and plan to search his home, phone and school locker, Kelley said.

The two victims of the shooting — 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone and another student who has not yet been identified — remained in critical condition at local hospitals, where Kelley said there is security present.

The suspect used a revolver handgun that he repeatedly fired and reloaded, which Kelley said “went on and on.” As the shooting went on, he was unable to access areas of the school that had gone into lockdown.

“He tried to find new targets, and he came up against a roadblock on many of those doors,” Kelley said. “He couldn’t get to those kids.”

Silverstone’s family released a brief statement through the sheriff’s office: “The family appreciates the community’s concern and support, but as we remain focused on our loved one’s recovery, we respectfully request privacy as we continue to heal and navigate the road ahead,” the statement said.

The name of the second victim has not yet been released.

Students and staff at the school “did their job, they did it well, and lives were saved yesterday because of the actions they took” during the lockdown, Kelley said. Many students ran and fled the scene while others remained locked down in the school.

Kelley had no information on how the suspect obtained the weapon.

Multiple agencies are supporting the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation “because there’s so many crime scenes within the school and outside the school,” Kelley said. Many windows and lockers within the school were shot.

The high school will not reopen this week.