Evergreen High School & Charlie Kirk shooting
Photo courtesy of Oddharmonic/Wikimedia Commons
Evergreen High School, the scene of the shooting on Wednesday, located only 40 minutes away from Columbine High School
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025 the Evergreen High School, located in Colorado, faced devastating tragedy earlier this week when an active shooter opened fire in the building, leaving three wounded, including the shooter himself. Desmond Holly has been identified as the 16-year-old shooter behind the attack. Holly arrived at school that morning with a revolver and ammunition to reload the weapon and began shooting around lunchtime. Holly shot at multiple students, injuring two.
Around 12:30pm, officers received a call informing them of an active shooter in the building, and within two minutes, they arrived at the scene. None of the responding officers used their guns while apprehending the suspect and the suspect shot himself upon the arrival of law enforcement. He later died from the self-inflicted wound.
Jacki Kelley, the public information officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said in response to the shooting, “He had to keep reloading. He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire and reload. This went on and on, and as he did that, he tried to find new targets and he came up against a roadblock on many of those doors. He couldn't get to those kids, so there's not enough to be said for the work that the teachers, the coaches, the staff, the students.” Kelley continued saying “Lots of kids ran, but the ones who didn't were locked down and they were being cared for. So really, really proud of those people…I have to believe when you bring a gun to school and you continue to fire and reload and fire and reload that you are on a mission. We are grateful that he was less successful, but we're devastated that he was successful at all.”
The high school had protective measures in place, including locked doors, which prevented the shooter from being able to wound additional people. Jefferson County, where Evergreen is located, is also home to Columbine High School, where the devastating Columbine school shooting took place 26 years ago. Since then, 13 school shootings have taken place in Colorado, which has prompted the implementation of protective measures.
One of the victims has been identified as Matthew Silverstone, an 18-year old-student. His family has asked for privacy during this time of grieving. The second victim has yet to be identified publicly.
Detectives have revealed that in the months before Holly opened fire, he was developing an increasingly violent online search history. Reportedly, he showed a strong interest in shooters, neo-Nazi ideals, and spent time on a gore site. Holly also collected tactical gear, which he displayed and modeled after previous shooters,including Brenton Tarrant and the Columbine shooters.
Americans witnessed a great deal of gun violence on that Wednesday. Charles “Charlie” Kirk, a well-known conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed during the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University around the same time that the Evergreen High School shooting took place. Lead suspect Tyler Robinson is currently in custody for the shooting.
The overlap of these two devastating events has left many Americans with questions about the state of gun violence in the United States and our response to it. Whether and how activists and lawmakers address these realities with actionable change remains to be seen.