April marked the 20th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School. Now a deadly attack took place in a nearby school.

Colorado School Shooting

An 18-year-old has been killed by gunfire at a school in the US state of Colorado. Eight other students were injured and several were in mortal danger, the sheriff’s office in Douglas County said Tuesday. The two alleged perpetrators were arrested. They are themselves students at the school concerned in Highlands Ranch south of Denver.

The injured are 15 years and older. One of the alleged perpetrators is a teenager, the other is already of legal age.

The school concerned is only nine miles as the crow flies from the Columbine High School in Littleton, where a school massacre celebrated its 20th-anniversary last month. On April 20, 1999, two armed teenagers shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School, and then killed themselves. Twenty-four people were injured.

The school at Highlands Ranch includes a kindergarten and grades one to twelve and is attended by around 1,800 students. A police spokeswoman said the police had been alerted after shots were fired in the middle classes just before 2:00 pm. A police station is located in the immediate vicinity of the school. Sheriff Tony Spurlock said police had been at the school within two minutes.

When asked if the alleged perpetrators had previously been noticed, the sheriff said, “We did not have them on any radar.” All injured are students. Teachers or other school staff are not affected. The investigation of the incident continues. Spurlock said, “This is a terrible event.” In the US, there are always attacks in schools – also because of the lax gun laws. Firearms are easy to obtain.

The White House said they prayed for the victims of the attack. President Donald Trump was informed about the incident. “Tragically, these and the surrounding communities are well aware of these hateful and terrible acts of violence.”

In the run-up to last year’s anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Columbine High School and numerous other schools in the greater Denver area were closed for fear of a possible attack by a suspected 18-year-old. The suspect was later found dead. She had traveled to Colorado before the anniversary of Miami and had bought a firearm and ammunition upon arrival. The police had been feverishly looking for the 18-year-old, who had been classified as “armed and dangerous” by the FBI.