AURORA, Colo. — Two Rangeview High School students were detained and being interviewed late Friday afternoon and a BB gun that was made to look like a real firearm has been recovered after a lockdown situation at the school in Aurora, police said. The BB gun was found in a backpack off campus.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. Friday, the Aurora Police Department said the high school was on “lockdown status.”
“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,” a statement from Aurora police said.
More than 70 Aurora police officers responded to the school.
“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,” police said.
UPDATE We are investigating a possibly armed party in Rangeview HS. No one is injured. No shots have been fired. No suspect has been found. We are looking for a suspect as shown below, please call 911 if you know this person or have info. Rangeview is NOT evacuating at this time. pic.twitter.com/XWn0hf4iip
— Aurora Police Dept. 🚔👮🏼♀️👮🏾♂️ (@AuroraPD) November 2, 2018
At 12:06 p.m., an officer found a teen boy matching the description of the suspect. ”
“Two individuals 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,” police said.
No one was injured and no shots were fired.
APD said it took students who were already outside the school at the time of the lockdown to the King Soopers parking lot at East Iliff Avenue and South Buckley Road.
Video posted to Snapchat appeared to show students sheltering under their desks inside the high school during the lockdown.
APD also said nearby Mracheck Middle School and Vassar Elementary School were on “Secure Perimeter status” during the lockdown at Rangeview.
Rangeview High School is located at the intersection of Iliff and South Telluride Street.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story said the school had been evacuated. APD later clarified that only students who were already outside the building at the time of the lockdown had been evacuated to the nearby King Soopers.