The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
May 10, 2019

Colorado Mother Warned of "Repeat of Columbine" Ahead of High School Shooting
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Colorado, the mother of a student at STEM School Highlands Ranch says
she tried to warn school officials last year about the potential for
violence at the Denver-area high school, but was ignored. The school was
the site of a mass shooting Tuesday, when a pair of students armed with
handguns went on a shooting spree, killing 18-year-old student Kendrick
Castillo and injuring eight others. CNN reports the mother, who's
remaining anonymous, called the school board in December warning of a
crushing academic workload leading to violence, sexual assault and
bullying on campus. She said, "those are the elements that we need for
the perfect storm, for something like a Columbine, or some kind of
imminent threat to our children's safety in the school, whether it be a
bomb or an active shooter, or a suicide." STEM school officials disputed
the claim and even filed a lawsuit against the unnamed mother in January
over what they called "defamatory statements."


.