On November 2, 2018, at 11:16 A.M., Officers from the Aurora Police Department were notified by a School Resource Officer, working at Rangeview High School located at 17599 East Iliff Avenue, that there was a picture from Snapchat showing a student with a weapon in his waistband. The School Resource Officer believed that the student was still in the school building.
The School Resource Officer immediately notified dispatch who then requested a city-wide response. Officers from all three police districts, including SWAT, Police Area Representatives, K-9, Neighborhood Policing Unit, Media Relations Unit, Traffic Units, Command Staff, and Detectives, responded to Rangeview High School to assist. There were more than 70 Aurora Police Officers who converged on this location to provided support and valuable resources to this evolving situation.
The school was immediately placed on lockdown and students who were inside of the school were told to shelter in place. The students who were on the outside of the school building were escorted off school property and asked to rendezvous with officers down the street for further instructions. It should be noted that no students were injured from this incident and there were no shots fired at any time on campus.
After developing a plan to ensure the safety of students inside of the school, officers began to search the interior of the school in case the armed individual was still located in the building. There were also numerous officers who were tasked with patrolling the streets, parks, shopping centers, and areas around Rangeview High School and to also search for the armed suspect if they happened to be off school property already. A partial picture of the suspect was released to officers in the area and inside of the school.
While our resources were focused on this incident, the Public Safety Communications Division received at least 75 additional and unrelated calls for service, which may have been delayed as a result of this call for service at Rangeview High School.
At approximately 12:06 P.M., an officer in the area of South Buckley Road and East Evans Avenue observed a male matching the description of the suspect. Two individual were contacted, one of which was in possession of a BB gun made to look like a real firearm. Both males were detained in relation to this incident and were transported to our District 3 Police Station where detectives interviewed them. After the interviews, the juvenile males were released to their parents and criminal charges are pending.
Since both suspects are juveniles, we cannot release their names. We can confirm though that both are students are Rangeview High School.
This incident will continue to be investigated and we are asking anyone with information about this case to call Detective C. Fanning at (303) 627-3161.
We wanted to thank our partners from Aurora Fire Rescue, Falck Rocky Mountain Ambulance, and Aurora Public School Security Officers. We also want to thank the parents and the public for their patience and attention during this situation.
Chief of Police, Nicholas Metz remarked, “I am extremely grateful for all of the officers who quickly responded to Rangeview High School to ensure the safety of not only the students but the staff as well. I wanted to also praise the Aurora Public School Security Officers who assisted our officers with scene security and access to the buildings. Thank you to Aurora Fire Rescue who responded and staged in the event of injuries to anyone. I appreciate the Rangeview High School staff and the School Resource Officer who quickly brought this to our attention and helped us resolve this situation quickly and safely. I commend my officers who apprehended the suspects and recognized the necessity to quickly capture the ones responsible. Our detectives are hard at work to ensure that this matter will be resolved with the most appropriate outcome.”
Officer Matthew Longshore
Public Information Officer
Aurora Police Department
(720) 432-5095