By Jessica Schladebeck
New York Daily News
The 18-year-old senior gunned down as he tried to tackle a shooter loosing bullets inside his Colorado school was just three days away from graduating.
The victim’s father, John Castillo, confirmed to NBC News that his son, Kendrick Castillo, was killed in the gunfire at STEM School Highlands Ranch Tuesday afternoon. Another eight people were shot in the bloody incident and rushed to three area hospitals, where several of the wounded underwent surgery.
Five of them have since been released while three others remained in intensive care Wednesday, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock told reporters during a morning news conference.
Student Nui Giasolli recalled during an interview on the “Today” show how Castillo “lunged” at one of the shooters, giving those inside her British literature class time to take cover.
“The next think I know is (the shooter) is pulling a gun and he’s telling nobody to move, and that’s when Kendrick lunged at him,” she said.
“And he shot Kendrick, giving all of us enough time to get underneath our desks, to get ourselves safe, and to run across the room and escape.”
The STEM School Highlands Ranch stood empty amid rainy weather and gray skies on Wednesday while the Douglas County community continued to mourn in wake of the shooting. It will remain closed for the rest of the week.
“I live in Douglas County and for about 18 years, I lived half a mile from where the incident took place. I want to talk to you as the DA, but first I want to talk you as the D-A-D, the dad,” District Attorney George Brauchler said.
“My heart goes out not just to the victims in this case, but there are those who won’t be classified as victims that are feeling it this morning right now —moms and dads looking at each other making decisions about whether to send their kids to school in one of the greatest school districts in the country because they don’t feel safe. That’s the dad talking to you.”
Police responded to the STEM School Highlands Ranch, located in an affluent Denver suburb, around 1:50 p.m. Tuesday after a school administrator called to report shots had been fired in the building.
Few details about how the shooting unfolded have been released. Spurlock did say the attackers entered the school, which does not have metal detectors, in the middle school area. There was an armed security guard already on the scene and law enforcement arrived just moments later.
Responders immediately “engaged the suspects” in separate classrooms and two suspected gunmen, both students, were taken into custody. They did not exchange gunfire and one of the gunmen had already been detained, likely by the security guard, the Sheriff said.
Authorities identified one of the alleged shooters as 18-year-old Devon Erickson but declined to give any more details or photos “as it could jeopardize this critical ongoing investigation,” the department said in a short statement. He’s slated to have an advisory hearing Wednesday afternoon.
The second suspect, who is a minor, has not been identified. Spurlock Wednesday morning told reporters the juvenile shooter had initially been identified as male “based on appearance”after speaking with the suspect, authorities chose to identify her as female.
Officers recovered two handguns from the suspects, but would not provide additional details on the weapons used during the attack. They also declined to speculate on the motive behind the shooting, which is still under investigation.
Colorado’s red -flag laws, which can prevent individuals from legally obtaining a firearm, would not have helped in this case as “neither one of them is old enough to purchase a gun anyway,” Spurlock added.
Spurlock told reporters Wednesday that “we are going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school,” but did not specifically name students who reportedly helped take down one of the shooters.
“I suspect as detectives get further interviews from them, we’re going to find that there were much more heroic things,” Spurlock added.
People across the internet on Wednesday were already lauding Castillo, an award-winning, four-year member of his school robotics team, for saving lives in the horrifying school attack.
Giasolli also named students Brendan Bialy, Jackson Gregory and Lucas Albertoni among those “brave enough” to try to take control of the situation.
