School Hostage in Bailey, Colorado

[texas'10]

4 Schools in Bailey, Colorado are on lockdown after reports of shots being fired in or around the school.

[texas'10]

They say there is an active shooter in the school, and a bomb squad was sent in. Several shots have just been fired.

[Adidas410s]

oh no...not again!

[Adidas410s]

BAILEY, Colo. — Platte Canyon High School and the adjoining Fitzsimmons Middle School were on lockdown Wednesday afternoon, with some students being evacuated after reports of shots fired, according to local media reports.

The Jefferson County bomb squad and SWAT team responded to a reported emergency in Bailey, which is located about 50 miles southwest of Denver. The two schools share a wall with each other.

One local affiliate, KCNC-CBS, reported that one gunman and a hostage may be in the building.

U.S Highway 285 is reportedly closed as crews respond to the scene.

There are no reports of any injuries.

Platte Canyon High School had 467 students enrolled during the 2005-2006 school year, according to its Web site. Fitzsimmons Middle School has about 350 students.

Calls to Bailey police and the Park County sheriff were not immediately returned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[pirate4state]

Lets all pray that there are no injuries!! :( :( What is going on???

[injuredinmelee]

May God be with the people in that school.

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
May God be with the people in that school. I'm with you on that....let's hope everything turns out well........ :(

[htowntransplant]

is there live video feed on CNN or any other major news outlet?

[texas'10]

It is an adult male gunman, not a student, holding two hostages in a classroom. Police are making contact with the gunman. Questions are arising about whether or not the adult was and angered parent, or a random person.

[texas'10]

I have live video on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News

[big daddy russ]

What is it with CO and school shootings?

[texas'10]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
What is it with CO and school shootings?

and child abductions

[Maroon87]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
What is it with CO and school shootings?


More like...What is it with Jefferson County and school shootings? That's the same county as Columbine, I believe.:thinking:

[texas'10]

One of the hostages is the gunman's wife

[texas'10]

IT IS OVER, I GIRL HURT, OTHER UNHARMED.

[Bandera YaYa]

Shooter shot one girl and then killed himself. Girl airlifted to hospital, critical. :(

[wedo]

This is freakin crazy!!!!!!!!!!1

[Tx Challenge]

Makes me sick, I have a mountain home in Park County Co

this stuff can happen anywhere. Lets pray the girl is going to be ok

[lostaussie]

BAILEY, Colo. — A gunman took six girls hostage at the high school in this mountain town Wednesday, using them as human shields for hours before he shot and fatally wounded a girl and then killed himself as a SWAT team moved in, authorities said.
The gunman, believed to be between 30 and 50 years old, was cornered with the girls in a second-floor classroom, and he released four of them, one by one.

The wounded girl was taken to a Denver hospital in critical condition, but was declared dead, a hospital spokeswoman said. She did not release the girl's name.

The last hostage was unharmed and talking with authorities.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said authorities decided to enter the school after the middle-aged suspect cut off negotiations and set a deadline. At the time, the gunman had turned four student hostages loose but was still holed up with two girls.

"It was then decided that a tactical solution needed to be done in an effort to save the two hostages," the sheriff said, his voice breaking. "Entry was made. The suspect shot one of the hostages, then shot himself."

The sheriff said the suspect had threatened his hostages virtually throughout the four-hour ordeal. The suspect was not immediately identified, and he was at a loss to explain a motive.

"I don't know why he wanted to do this," Wegener said.

About 3:45 p.m. MT, news reports showed emergency workers taking someone on a gurney from the school. The person was placed into an ambulance and rushed to a nearby medical evacuation helicopter.

ON DEADLINE: Updates during the standoff

Jefferson County Sheriff spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said the gunman entered the school this morning and fired "more than one shot" before taking the hostages.

The high school and the nearby Fitzsimmons Middle School were immediately evacuated after a loud noise was heard at the high schools, said Jan Howard, a secretary to the superintendent of schools.

"I don't know what the noise was," she said. She said students were taken to a safe location, but predicted parents would not be able to immediately reach them because U.S. Highway 285 — the only route in and out of town — had been shut down.

There were no immediate reports of injuries at the schools in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver, in Park County. The two schools have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.

Adjoining Jefferson County sent a bomb squad and SWAT team to help, Kelley said.

Jefferson County authorities are all too familiar with school attacks: The sheriff's office handled the 1999 attack at Columbine High School in which two students killed 13 people before taking their own lives.

"I am just really upset," said Sherry Husen, whose son plays on the high school football team and was told not to return to school from his part-time job. She said her husband called to tell her there was a shooting at the school

"I'm just terrified. I'm terrified," she said. "I know so many kids in that school."

The family moved to Bailey from suburban Denver about 14 years ago.

"We moved up here for the mountain solitude, and I just never thought this would happen in this school, but it happens everywhere," she said. "I don't know what else to say."

Other schools in the area were put in lockdown, meaning students would not be allowed to leave until administrators determined it was safe.