The search for the East high
school shooting suspect is over.
high-ranking law enforcement source says
that 17 year old Austin Lyle is dead.
The Park County sheriff says a SWAT
team found a body close to where they
found the car of the suspected shooter.
Let's get straight to our Cole
Sullivan who's live in Bailey.
Alex Kyle, this press conference
just wrapped in the last 20 minutes
or so with the Park County sheriff.
He confirms exactly what you said about
2/10 of a mile from that red Volvo that
police have been looking for all day.
They found a body and a senior law
enforcement source tells 9 news
that is the body of Austin Lyle,
the suspect in today's shooting
at Denver East High School.
Let me give you a context of where
we are right now in relation to East
because we're a pretty long way away.
We're about 30 miles from East
High School to the West in Bailey,
Co that's in Park County just West of.
Of confer. This is a rural area,
just about a plus Hwy.
68 here where they found this body
and the sheriff had a shelter in
place issued for this for a five mile
radius around where we are right now.
He had a message for folks who
were in this area tonight as well.
Take a listen.
They should feel.
Relieved that that we came up
here and solved the problem,
and that we don't have to. You know,
wait around till tomorrow morning or
next few days on on something like this.
It's over. That's why I can
say for tonight is over with.
So this was the scene here in Park
County off that rural mountainous Rd.
on Hwy. 68 as officers from a
number of different departments
arrived to search for this suspect.
The sheriff says that this
all began or excuse me,
the Superintendent here in Park
County says that there was a paying
off the suspect cell phone in
conifer and that's what started law
enforcement looking in this area.
The sheriff says that his officers
as well as federal agents from the
ATF and and also jeffco deputies
waited until the Jefferson.
County SWAT team arrived.
They had some armored vehicles and
a convoy we saw pull through around
5:30 or 6:00 o'clock this evening.
That is when they began searching the
area around that Volvo for Austin Lyle.
They found him 2/10 of a mile away.
This all started a little before
10:00 o'clock this morning at
Denver East High School.
Lyle, DPD says shot 2 administrators
at that school this morning
just before 10:00 o'clock.
It happened in a front office
near the school's entrance.
He was being patted.
Down by those school administrators,
the officials say as part of a daily routine
that was part of Lyle's safety plan,
the district called it.
That enables him to go to that school,
the chief says.
The DPD chief says that they never
found a gun on him before until today.
He shot those two administrators
and then fled that scene,
leading to a 12 hour manhunt nearly that
stretched across multiple counties here,
ending here today in Park County.
As you heard the sheriff saying,
it's over.
I want to go back to what the sheriff.
We're talking about them going
up there and taking care of it.
Do we have any indication that
law enforcement engaged the
shooting suspect in any way,
face to face or otherwise?
No. No indication at all that that happened.
At this point, the sheriff deferred
lots of questions to Denver police,
saying that's their investigation.
He said the body was found about
2/10 of a mile from that car,
and they didn't start looking for
it for a couple hours until the
SWAT team arrived, too. Kyle.
All right, Cole Sullivan, thank you.
Started like here and
like little like gunshot,
but like I know like they were actually real.
Second month in a row students at
Denver's largest public high school
were on lockdown after a shooting.
They're so flowers out front
after 16 year old Luis Garcia was
fatally shot there in February.
Both of the people shot today
are Deans at the school.
Gerald Mason is out of the hospital tonight.
Eric Sinclair still there in
serious condition after a surgery
for life threatening injuries.
You're a hypocrite.
You haven't done anything hypocrisy.
Same deal here now.
Armed guards right there.
No, you don't appreciate anything.
You're not doing your job.
Mayor Michael Hancock and Police
Chief Ron Thomas were confronted by
parents outside of east this morning.
People begging them to take action
to keep the community safe.
Come on, you guys.
You guys need to get it.
Could be on top of it.
These are our kids.
I don't want to come and
get my kid and have her
take her to the funeral.
9 news reporter Jennifer Mechels
joins us from outside E Tonight
and Jennifer this afternoon,
the Superintendent decided to go around
the school board to bring armed Denver
police officers back into schools.
Yeah, Kyle, this is defiance of
the school board's policy on SRO's.
That doctor Marrero,
the Superintendent of Denver Public School,
says they're not going to bring 2 armed
Denver police officers on this campus
through the end of the school year,
as well as adding back armed officers
from the Denver Police Department
at high schools around the district.
That decision came in the form of
a memo to the school board today.
Today was my fourth visit to Denver
Health's ICU due to victims of gun violence,
Marrero wrote to the board.
These events should not have happened
on my watch or on this board's watch.
Marrero then informs the board he is
putting 2 armed DPD officers at East
High School through the end of the year,
plus at least one armed officer at
other high schools in the district,
and promising ongoing conversations with
those principals about their needs.
I acknowledge this action likely
violates executive limitations 1010,
he writes.
Pointing to the 2020 board decision
to remove Denver police from campuses.
However,
I can no longer stand on the sidelines.
I am willing to accept the consequences
of my actions.
The school board has not answered
our questions about what those
consequences could be.
At East High School today,
students and parents weren't
sure they could come back.
Today is his last day here.
Like get all your friends,
Instagrams, Facebook,
whatever you need, but because you
will not be coming back here no more.
Today's the last day, kids and
teachers at these times. Staff should not be
expected to show up physically at school.
Yeah, here. If the risk is too great. When I
do go back I'm gonna look at my
surroundings and if I don't see no
safety, then I'm not going back.
And that's what I want to see, safety.
Late this afternoon,
the Denver School Board released a
statement saying that they do support
the superintendent's decision to
put armed officers back on campuses
through the end of the year.
But the board didn't comment as a whole.
Kyle on that memo in which the
Superintendent says I'm defying
policy here by by doing this.
We do expect to hear more from the board
leadership tomorrow at some point.
And just a reminder for folks Jenny
who don't follow schools all the time,
the Superintendent works for the board.
They are the elected body.
He is their employee.
They tell him what to do. So I mean.
He really was putting his job
on the line today by bringing
DPD officers back into schools.
It was just three years ago
that that decision was made,
and we should mention it
was unanimous on the board.
It was at the time, it was an interesting
conversation in a different, you know,
context of conversation around students and
what was going on in 2020 with protests and,
you know, social justice.
And, and to your point, though the board
gives the Superintendent directives,
the directive they gave him
was this policy with SRO.
So he's acknowledging that
he's doing something different.
I'll be very curious to see if
there are in fact any consequences.
And maybe there won't be.
I'm not sure. Jennifer
Mechels reporting from east. Thank you.
During Jenny's report there,
we got some new information.
That clears up one of the biggest
questions that we talked about
earlier in this broadcast.
A law enforcement source tells 9 news
that the shooting suspect, Austin Lyle,
died by suicide in Park County.
Based on the sheriff's wording,
it was unclear whether they had
some involvement with his death.
But again now law enforcement
sources telling 9 news that
the East high shooting suspect,
Austin Lyle, died by suicide.
Today's shooting happened just weeks
after a student at East High was killed.
Someone shot 16 year old
Luis Garcia near campus.
He passed away at the hospital
and family laid him to rest.
Just this past Saturday Night,
News reporter Kelly Rinke
spoke to Louise's brother,
who continues to ask for change.
Sorrow still lies outside East
High School for a student who
was shot near campus last month.
A community hasn't even had time
to heal before another shooting.
I knew it was going to happen again.
I warned. I mean, I warned as
much people as I could that
it was going to happen again.
Santos Garcia continues to
advocate for change after the
death of his brother Louise,
someone shot the 16 year old next
to east while he sat in his car.
It's dumb that we haven't, you know,
had any physical solutions.
Been brought to the. To the problem.
For weeks, Santo has been asking for
an armed officer at every DPS school.
The district says this morning,
the two security guards
at East didn't have a gun.
I talked to the principal and the Deans and,
you know, some of the staff here
and they they wanted police.
This is not just an east problem, it's a.
I guess it's a community problem.
The Superintendent says he's committed
to adding two armed officers at ease
for the rest of the school year and
an armed cop at every high school.
For a brother in mourning,
the decision came too late
for students and staff today.
They could have been avoided
if if there was a cop there,
you know, to prevent anything
like this from happening.
Santos wishes he didn't have to talk
about violence, but he feels he has to
speak up because his brother can't.
I think he would want me to
do everything that I could.
So that I could have an impact on that.
Earlier this month, students organized
a gun violence summit with school
leaders and elected officials.
Back then, Santos said he was discouraged,
felt like not enough promises were made.
And today, he said he's going to continue to
push school board members to do something.
Yeah, I'm glad you talked to
Santos because it reminds us kids,
specifically at East, who've been
through three lockdowns this year.
They're done asking for prayers and hugs.
They're demanding and deserve actual change.
And it's the loss of his brother that is,
you know, really motivating him
to continue this conversation.
Kelly, thank you. As Denver
reels from the shooting at East, people
in Boulder are remembering the tragedy.
2 years ago today, a gunman walked into the
table Mesa King Soopers and began shooting,
killing ten people.
There were parents, community members,
shoppers workers, and a police officer.
Two years later in the store is now open.
Boulder time and time again continues
to demonstrate their resilience.
Community members came together
tonight honoring those lives lost.
Coming up at 9:30,
we'll see the community is remembering
the victims in a special way.
Plus we'll hear from one of the
victims daughters and a very
bittersweet message she has to share.
The suspects case is still on hold.
Doctors say he's not competent
to stand trial, but he could
be potentially with the right treatment.
Prosecutors in Boulder County have
pushed for a more comprehensive
mental health assessment,
but a judge disagreed.
We're expecting another
update to his case next month.
We know this has been a tough day
for families in Denver and in
Boulder with the two year mark
since the King super shooting.
You need a little extra.
Up tonight,
Colorado Crisis Services is
there available 24/7.
Call
1-844-493-8255 or text talk to 38255.
You can also access resources
through the national suicide and
crisis lifeline. Just dial 988.