A 19-year-old student was in Arapahoe County jail on $500,000 bail Wednesday because police said he threatened to shoot people at Englewood High School.
Blake Grayson Hicks was arrested Tuesday at his home, where police found an unloaded .22-caliber rifle and 280 rounds of ammunition in his car, said John Hoehler, an investigator with the Englewood Police Department.
Hicks had recently been suspended from Englewood High for “discipline problems,” Hoehler said, but was still enrolled at the school while he was educated at home.
Over the past month, Hicks had told several students he “wanted to bring a gun to school and shoot people,” Hoehler said.
“He made several different threats to several different kids,” Hoehler said. “He hated the school, he wanted to shoot up the school – those types of things.”
It was unclear Wednesday if Hicks had hired an attorney.
Students didn’t initially report the alleged threats because they didn’t find them to be credible, Hoehler said.
But on Tuesday students said they saw Hicks on campus and were concerned because he wasn’t supposed to be there, Hoehler said. Students told teachers, and the police were called.
“It worked perfectly. It was exactly how the scenario is set up to react,” said James McCabe, superintendent of Englewood Schools. “There wasn’t a glitch in the system.”
Security at the high school has been increased since the arrest. A letter about the arrest and additional security was sent to parents Wednesday.
Recent school shootings in Bailey, Cazenovia, Wis., and Nickel Mines, Pa., influenced students to report the alleged threats, Hoehler said.
“The kids did the right thing,” Hoehler said.
Hicks was being held on suspicion of interference with an educational institution, a misdemeanor. The case remains under investigation and additional charges are possible, Hoehler said.
Hicks’ initial bail was $1,000 but it was increased to $500,000, raising some eyebrows in the legal community.
“Who has ever heard of a misdemeanor with $500,000 bond?” said David Lane, a Denver defense attorney who isn’t representing Hicks.
“The law says the purpose of a bond is to ensure that someone appears in court,” Lane said. “It is not to prematurely convict someone.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
