Two handguns were seized, he said, noting that the FBI had also joined the investigation. Police had scoured the two suspects’ social media accounts, mobile phone records and computers for any clue as to their motivation.
The older of the two suspects was due to appear in court later in the day for an arraignment hearing. The Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, condemned the school attack. “America has seen too many of these senseless acts of violence,” he said. The state had just commemorated the 20th anniversary of the notorious Columbine school shooting in which two heavily armed students aged 17 and 18 killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher on April 20, 1999, before committing suicide.
“This is not who we are. This aberrant act doesn’t define us,” said George Brauchler, the local district attorney.