Response to Shooting at the STEM School of Highlands Ranch, CO

The purpose of this award under the OVC Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program is to enable the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice to support the victims of the May 7, 2019 STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch, CO. Multiple rounds were fired in a classroom and at least one shot went through a wall into an adjoining classroom where a student was struck by the bullet (one of the eight injured). There were 20 other students and a teacher in the classroom where the shooting occurred and many indirect victims, including the 1,827 students at the school, their families, 160 school staff members, and police and other emergency personnel who responded to the scene. Both of the alleged shooters were taken into custody, with the juvenile later pleading guilty to 17 charges, including first-degree murder. The adult alleged shooter pleaded not guilty with the trial slated for September 2020. Funding will provide supplemental crime victim compensation, crisis response, consequence management, and criminal justice support services to help victims continue to heal and cope with probable re-traumatization.
NCA/NCF