DENVER — Parents and students are calling for change one day after a shooting outside Denver''s East High School.
A 16-year-old boy, a student at the school, is in critical condition. The shooting put the school on a secure perimeter status Monday afternoon during 7th period. A GoFundMe has been created to support his family.
Denver Public Schools also canceled classes at East High School Tuesday.
Denver police said they have two other teenage boys — ages 17 and 16 — in custody. Police said they are not East HS students, but they are both DPS students.
"I felt disgusted. I felt nauseous. I felt scared. I didn't feel any sort of surprise," said Caden Fiala, a member of the Students Demand Action group, calling for an end to gun violence. "Like any loud noise, my mind immediately races, 'What's happening? Am I safe?' We don't have to live like this. This is something that can be changed with proper policy."
Students with the group gathered outside the school Tuesday, hoping to share their reality.
"We've had more days off of school this year because someone was shot at East than we've had snow days. And I think that's ridiculous," said Grant Cramer, an East HS student also calling for change. "It's the terrible reality that we're living in. And something needs to be done about it because this is not OK."
While students call for change, so do some parents.
"As a parent, thinking that a shooting has happened there is horrifying," said Tonja Matthews, who said East HS's principal, Terita Walker, did not notify parents until more than an hour after the shooting outside the school.
"I think Ms. Walker should have sent out a mass email and text alert saying the school was on lockdown while it was on lockdown," she said. "They need to be more proactive with the parents, not these delayed messages and mixed signals because that's what it has been."
DPS declined our request for an interview but clarified the shooting did not happen at the school but nearby, at 17th and Esplanade. A spokesman also clarified that the buildings were not under lockdown but in secure perimeter status.
"We do not communicate this to families until after the secure perimeter status has been released," said DPS spokesman Scott Pribble said in an email to Denver7.
The district is offering mental health support and additional security at the school.
