Aurora Central High School Parents Wait To Pick Up Students After Shooting Injures 6 Students
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - Aurora parents waited anxiously to get in contact with their students at Aurora Central High School on Monday afternoon. Vehicles lined up along the perimeter of the campus as a small crowd of parents waited outside.
Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said during a news conference the school would conduct a controlled release of students.
The school had been put on a brief lockdown, but it was later changed to a secure perimeter. The move was reaction to six children, ages 14-18, being shot at Nome Park, near the school.
All of victims' parents have been notified.
Several community members tell CBS4 they talked to or texted with their students and knew they were safe.
"The number one thing is to make sure they're ok. Everything's OK, the weight is off your shoulders, said said Diego Nuñez, who came to the school to pick up his little sister. "So, as of now, as long as I've got that she's OK, 'I'm alive, I'm ok, I'm good. That's all that matters."
Others, like Evette Mitchell said they were shocked and fed up with the violence in the area and at the school. The mother rushed to the school to pick up her son after hearing about what happened.
"I worry about my son because he's only in the ninth grade," Mitchell said. "Now we have a whole 3 to 4 blocks blocked off because of violence. Now I'm hearing five kids got shot. That's not OK with me."
The shooting did not occur at the school. Suspects have not been identified or caught.
The five youngest victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance; the 18-year-old student drove themselves to a hospital. While all injuries are considered non life-threatening, one of the victims is in emergency surgery, Wilson said.
The Aurora Public School District issued a joint statement with Superintendent Rico Munn and Dr. Kyla Armstrong-Romero, APS Board of Education President:
The Aurora Public Schools community is heartbroken to learn that six Aurora Central High School students were injured in a shooting north of the school at Nome Park earlier today. We want to thank the Aurora Police Department (APD) and our security officers for their heroic response and support after the shooting. We had APD School Resource Officers and APS security officers who rushed to provide emergency care for the victims. We also want to thank them for coordinating a safe and phased release of students and staff at the end of our school day. We have also been focused on reaching out to the families and offering our support.
The safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is our top priority. We will have additional mental health professionals at Aurora Central High School available for students and staff as needed. In addition, we will continue to have an increased security presence at and around the school.
We are disgusted by this and other senseless acts of violence against our children who are the future of our community. We ask for your continued support of the Aurora Central community and we ask each of you to be a proactive part of keeping all of our children safe.
Those with more information about the shootings are asked to call Metro Denver Crimestoppers at 720-913-STOP.
