Evergreen High School Attack leaves Colorado town in shock as two teens are wounded and the community struggles to cope with the tragedy. Image: AP.
(The Post News) – The Evergreen High School attack stunned the peaceful Colorado town on Wednesday when a student fired on two fellow students before turning the weapon on himself. The violent episode began shortly after 12:30 p.m. at the Evergreen campus, located about 30 miles west of Denver in the Rocky Mountain foothills.
During the Evergreen High School attack, gunfire rang out both inside the building and outside on school grounds, sending terrified students and staff into chaos as they scrambled for safety. Within minutes, deputies arrived and discovered the shooter, who had already inflicted a fatal wound on himself. Strikingly, none of the officers on scene discharged their own weapons while handling the crisis.
In the aftermath, more than 100 officers from surrounding jurisdictions flooded into the area, creating a massive security presence. This overwhelming response immediately drew painful comparisons to Jefferson County’s history with the 1999 Columbine tragedy, a dark memory that still lingers over the region.
Evergreen High School Attack Leaves Two Teens Injured
The two teens struck during the Evergreen High School attack were rushed to St. Anthony Hospital, where they were initially in critical condition. By evening, medical staff confirmed that at least one had stabilized and faced injuries that were no longer considered life-threatening. Authorities did not release the students’ names or ages.
Evergreen High School, home to more than 900 students, sits in a heavily wooded area about a mile from the town’s center. Following the Evergreen High School attack, anxious parents gathered outside a nearby elementary school that had been set up as a reunification site. Many waited in anguish to see their children again. One mother shared that her daughter, a sophomore, had fled during the shooting and later borrowed a stranger’s phone to make a tearful call home.
Evergreen High School Attack Shakes the Community
At the same time, 18 other students found safety in the nearby home of retired teacher Don Cygan. The teens banged on his door, begging for help, after escaping the building. One of them explained that gunfire had erupted in the cafeteria, prompting a desperate dash outside.
With his background in education and familiarity with lockdown drills, Cygan wrote down each student’s name and carefully noted when parents arrived to pick them up. His wife, a retired nurse, worked to calm the frightened group and treated several for shock. The couple later expressed hope that the young people felt protected once inside their home.
The Evergreen High School attack has shaken the mountain town to its core. Long viewed as a quiet and safe community, Evergreen now faces the harsh reality that no place is entirely shielded from acts of violence. For students, parents, and neighbors, the day left scars that will not easily fade, replacing the illusion of safety with the sobering truth that tragedy can strike anywhere.
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