SEPTEMBER 13, 2025 | NEWS | By Isabelle Rosewater
A shooting at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County, Colo., on Wednesday, Sep. 10 left one dead and two critically injured.
The suspect, identified as Desmond Holly, 16, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he fired at students with a revolver handgun, leaving two injured, both in critical condition, according to authorities. Holly was a student at Evergreen High School.
“People were just scared for their lives,” said Jane Maren, a 14-year-old student at Evergreen High School.
One victim has been identified as Matthew Silverstone, 18. The identity of the second victim has not been released. Both families are requesting privacy at this time.
Authorities have warrants for the suspect’s home, phone and locker. Investigations have revealed the suspect was “radicalized by some extremist networks,” according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Holly was part of an online ‘True Crime Community,’ known by social media users to be a “dark fandom” that discusses subjects including serial killers and mass murderers.
In social media posts, Holly displayed interest in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that left 12 students and one teacher dead, also in Jefferson County. Holly’s accounts have since been suspended.
Holly reposted a video of the victims, and posted a selfie to his social media wearing a T-shirt he made with the word ‘Wrath’ in red letters, emulating a shirt worn by Dylan Klebold, a perpetrator of the Columbine shooting.
Holly posted pictures with a revolver – the type of weapon authorities confirmed was used in the shooting – to an X (formerly Twitter) account at 11:26 a.m. on the day of the shooting as well as five days prior.
Other content and comments reposted by Holly indicate he had antisemitic, white-supremacist and violent views.
911 dispatchers began receiving a torrent of calls at 12:24 p.m., when many students were at lunch. Law enforcement arrived on scene two minutes later and located the shooter within five minutes, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Local officials are working with the FBI Evidence Response Team and multiple other agencies for scene processing and lab work.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, officials are actively investigating multiple crime scenes on and around school property. Surveillance video and ammunition show that the suspect moved through each floor of the school, trying to get into areas that were locked down. Shots were fired throughout the hallways, shattering glass and piercing lockers as well as outside on school grounds and off school property down the street.
Maren was in the lunch line with a friend, Opal Dennison, 16, when an announcement sounded on the intercom, which she presumed to be notification of a lock-down, although she couldn’t make out the message due to student commotion.
Maren recalled that one student bolted out of an emergency exit, setting off alarms as dozens of other students followed, running to exit the building when the first gunshot sounded.
“I still thought that it was a drill,” Maren told The Catalyst in an interview. “Some part of me thought that it was a drill after hearing the first gunshot, cause I was like, no way this is happening right now.”
Dennison had been talking with a classmate in the lunch line, concerned over a challenging math test they had been studying for, when the gunshot was fired.
“It was surreal, like it felt like a fever dream,” Dennison said.
When Marens’ mother, Courtney Maren, received a phone call and texts from her daughter, her first thought was that she shouldn’t be on her phone in class with strict new cell-phone use policies.
“She was immediately crying,” said Courtney Maren. “Then I hear her say, “Mom, there’s a school shooter.”
Maren wore fluffy slippers to school, which fell off as she sprinted, leaving her in just her socks.
She ran alongside what she estimated to be between 100 and 200 students, bolting away from the school and into the woods, leaving behind backpacks and phones. Students went in many directions in search of safety, many running to nearby neighborhoods, the local library and the recreation center.
Ring camera footage sent to The Catalyst and published by multiple Colorado news outlets shows students knocking on the door of a nearby home asking for help.
Maren guided around 15 of her classmates to her house, just a ten-minute walk from campus, where they waited and called their families before pickup and reunification efforts by law enforcement later in the afternoon.
As they rushed into the house, they could still hear gunfire in the distance.
Later, Dennison and some friends met to discuss the events of the afternoon, engaging in a long talk about their experiences and emotions, all while keeping an eye on the news.
“I feel like all of us were just in disbelief, like, couldn’t believe it was like our tiny town in Evergreen, that this was happening to… we were like the new Columbine kind of,” Dennison said.
Some students expressed apprehension at the notion of potentially returning to school next week.
“I don’t feel safe there, in a place where you’re supposed to feel safe,” said Dennison.
Evergreen High School does not currently have a full-time Student Resource Officer. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the current one is on medical leave, leaving the responsibility to multiple part-time staff – none of whom were onsite at the time of the shooting.
Courtney Maren felt that the school had been taking steps to become safer, citing an increase in officers and ID checks for visitors.
“Are we really at a place now where we need to do a metal detector?” said Maren. “I don’t know, maybe we do… it’s very sad.”
Members of the Evergreen community are encouraged to utilize counseling resources provided at the Bergen Elementary School. Investigators are also available for anyone who witnessed something they would like to report.
“We will do what we can as a community to heal from this. It really sucks that we’re here again. We’ve had our fair share of shootings in Jefferson County,” said Jacki Kelley, Public Information Officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, at a news conference on Thursday. The Evergreen High School shooting marks Colorado’s 13th school shooting since the Columbine shooting in 1999.
“We are going to do everything we can to help these kids heal, to help the teachers and parents get back to life,” said Kelley. “But the resources are available and we’re encouraging everyone to use them.”
Many Colorado state lawmakers have shared their reactions to the shooting.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families as they grapple with this senseless act of violence.” Governor Jared Polis of Colorado said in a statement to Denver 7 News.
“This kind of violence has absolutely no place in Colorado or anywhere, especially our schools, where kids should feel safe to learn and grow. No family should ever fear for their child’s life as they send them to school,” said Polis.