On September 10th, inside of Evergreen High School, a 14 year old endured the unimaginable. A face to face encounter with a violent school shooter filled with anger and hatred. The family of this boy have chosen not to release the name of the victim. Prior to the shooting, according to the victim’s family the 14 year old and his friend, also unnamed, confronted the shooter to “buy time for others to escape.” The shooting took place during the school lunch period at around 12:30 pm on September 10th, when a suspect, 16 year old Desmond Holly entered the school with a revolver and fired 20 rounds. Injuring an unnamed student and 18 year old Mathew Silver Stone, before the shooter took his own life. All victims were taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood in critical condition.

Samantha Ramirez, ’27, states, “I think the school should consider more staff training.” Staff training’s on how to identify and respond to potential threats to try to deescalate conflicts, and to provide support to students in crisis, “I cant imagine how traumatized the Evergreen High school students must have been, no school should have to go through this.”

Junior Erica Romero also shared that, “We should install more cameras on our school grounds,” and claim that staff actually, “pay attention to them.” Limiting entry points and having locked, secure doors can make all the difference.

The shooting resulted into the school being shut down until Thursday, September 25 when students went back to campus resuming their learning, as well as having their first half day back since the incident.