Suspected Colorado school shooters charged with murder, other counts

Colorado school shooting hero remembers the friend who acted first

Two students suspected of shooting nine classmates, one fatally, in their Colorado charter school appeared in court Wednesday to face dozens of criminal charges including murder, attempted murder, theft and arson. The charges came on the same day a memorial service was being held for Kendrick Castillo, the student who was killed in the May 7 shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch. Eight students were injured.
 
The accused shooters, 18-year-old Devon Erickson and 16-year-old Alec McKinney, were arrested at the school. Investigators say they opened fire inside using handguns. 

Prosecutors on Wednesday announced McKinney would be charged as an adult, reports CBS Denver. Erickson appeared in court and looked toward the judge while attorneys discussed the case. He wore a jail uniform and was kept shackled at his wrists and ankles after Judge Theresa Slade denied a motion to remove them. 

Devon Erickson, 18, looks up from the defense table during a court appearance in Castle Rock, Colorado, May 8, 2019. KCNC-TV

McKinney was scheduled to appear in court after Erickson. 

Court documents in the case are sealed. Slade denied the prosecution's request to make some of the documents public but said she will address the issue at the next hearing on June 7. 

Also on Wednesday, celebration of 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo's life will be held at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch. The senior was just days from graduating when he was killed.

Castillo along with classmates Brendan Bialy and Joshua Jones are credited with charging at one of the suspects in a classroom, helping to minimize the bloodshed.
 
According to Bialy, Castillo sprang into action against the shooter "and immediately was on top of him with complete disregard for his own safety." 

Kendrick Castillo, 18, was killed in the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado on May 7, 2019. He's being called a "hero" for attempting to take down the gunman.

"What he did was legendary, like, he's a hero," Bialy told "CBS This Morning."
 
Jones said he was shot twice in the leg during the ordeal. Bialy said he was able to take the attacker's weapon.
 
All the injured students have been released from hospitals.

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