The 18-year-old gunman who wounded a fellow student at a Colorado school before taking his own life Friday was described as a bright, politically opinionated young man who had a beef with a teacher.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson identified the gunman as Karl Halverson Pierson, 18, a senior at Arapahoe High School in Centennial. Authorities said he entered the school about 12:33 p.m. (2:33 p.m. ET) looking for a specific teacher with whom he'd had an earlier confrontation.
"'Revenge' is the word that I chose," Robinson told reporters. "This is where our initial investigation is taking us. We know that there was some controversy between the student suspect and the teacher."
The teacher, alerted to the threat, immediately tried to lure Pierson away from other students by leaving the building, Robinson said.
"It was very tactical for the teacher, for him to remove himself from the school," Robinson said.
Pierson shot a 15-year-old girl before using the same shotgun to kill himself, Robinson said. The girl, who wasn't identified, was in critical condition Friday night, Littleton Adventist Hospital said.
Madison Berry, a senior at the school, said she had taken classes with Pierson.
"He was very outspoken — always involved with class discussion," she said. "So it was kind of odd to see that he was the one who did this."
Abbey Skoda, a junior, told The Denver Post: "He had very strong beliefs about gun laws and stuff. I also heard he was bullied a lot."
Neighbors said Pierson was a nice, quiet teen who lived with a nice, quiet family in a nice, quiet neighborhood.
"They were one of the first (families) to introduce themselves when we moved into the neighborhood" about five years ago, Jo VanDeWege, a neighbor, told NBC station KUSA of Denver.
Pierson "introduced himself and his sister, and they were all very sweet and seemed very cheerful. So this has been quite upsetting," she said.
Diane Shea, a neighbor, agreed, telling the Post, "They're just a normal middle-class family, like many of the families around here."
Pierson's parents divorced in 2011, and he was believed to have lived with his mother, Robinson said late Friday. Authorities were investigating four locations: the school, Pierson's car, his mother's home and his father's home, he said.
Pierson's mother, a school system employee, was out of town caring for a sick relative, neighbors and investigators said.
Date: December 14th, 2013 12:05 AM Author: vermilion insane hairy legs property
I'm going to go ahead and guess he's a libpedo. If he was pro gun, I think the article would have said so expressly, rather than using the "strong beliefs about gun laws" quote.
Date: December 14th, 2013 12:07 AM Author: Cracking idiotic tanning salon
"Pierson also appears to mock Republicans on another Facebook post, writing "you republicans are so cute" and posting an image that reads: "The Republican Party: Health Care: Let 'em Die, Climate Change: Let 'em Die, Gun Violence: Let 'em Die, Women's Rights: Let 'em Die, More War: Let 'em Die. Is this really the side you want to be on?"
Date: December 14th, 2013 12:15 AM Author: Boyish pungent rigpig
Ppl on twitter saying he was a socialist of some kind, who would try to pick political arguments regularly. And, strangely, he was hardcore pro gun control.
Date: December 14th, 2013 12:33 AM Author: Cracking idiotic tanning salon
He was trying to kill his school debate coach (a librarian) who kicked him off the team for threatening to kill the coach.
“Karl half-jokingly threatened to kill Mr. Murphy, and Mr. Murphy got him suspended for saying that," [debate team captian] Redmond told the Daily News. "Karl wanted to go to the Air Force Academy and they don’t look positively on suspensions so (Karl) felt like Mr. Murphy had ruined his life.”
Strange irony in the fact that the coach's (and school's) hyper-sensitivity to even joking threats of violence -- a sensitivity born of school shootings of the past 15 years -- directly leads to this guy going off the rails and deciding to shoot up the school.
Date: December 14th, 2013 10:10 AM Author: Boyish pungent rigpig
Sorry lil' breh. One of these days you'll actually get to blame one of these on reptiles directly, rather than constructing convoluted theories for moral superiority after yet another TAX DAY false alarm. Keep your chin up, shitlib!
Date: December 14th, 2013 10:12 AM Author: black stirring international law enforcement agency
lol if only the 15 yr old girl was armed she could have saved yourself.
just admit that the 2nd amendment requires a well-regulated militia and refers to police and national guard; the founders never hoped for individual citizens to own firearms. if that were the case, why were all guns in armories until a hundred years after the bill of rights?
Date: December 14th, 2013 11:28 AM Author: trip keepsake machete pisswyrm
One of these days? So the white supremecist sikh shooter was a lib now? I suppose Anders Breivik was a lib too. And it must have been Dylan Klebold's liberal political leanings that led him to shoot the black kid "because he was black" after calling him a "nigger".
Date: December 14th, 2013 1:46 PM Author: Lascivious regret stage
this is the real issue. he was an insane 18-year-old. it's not like he was an intellectual beacon for either side of the aisle. the ridiculous part is how unfairly these issues are presented by the people with microphones.
Date: December 14th, 2013 1:50 PM Author: Citrine piazza
Yeah, I mean it's fair to say that that his political persuasion probably played zero role in the shooting. He just as easily could have been conservative. But you know if he was in fact conservative it would be front and center. "Pro gun nutjob kills people with guns!"
Witness reports indicate that the mugger definitely had a 'clearly visible ethnicity' and a 'distinct skin tone.' "There's no double about it, he was definitely a member of one race," noted one onlooker interviewed on the scene.