On Tuesday, the only thing that stood between a gunman at Deer Creek Middle School and disaster were teachers willing to sacrifice themselves.
That is because the armed school resource officer from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office who normally covers Deer Creek Middle School was called to Falcon Bluffs Middle School to cover for a sick colleague just hours before two students were shot.
As Deer Creek Middle reopens today to parents and students for an “open house,” authorities said the Jefferson County deputy who normally works there was carrying an extra burden.
“He was doing everything right,” said sheriff’s spokesman Mark Techmeyer. “But it breaks his heart he wasn’t there to stop the shooting, just by happenstance.”
Even on normal days, 10 resource officers are spread among 57 schools covered by the Sheriff’s Office and focus most of their attention on high schools, Techmeyer said.
Though the Sheriff’s Office beefed up its resource officer program after the Columbine shootings, it still must cover multiple schools, said Jacki Kelley, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Each of the high schools has one or two resource officers, but each officer also is assigned to one middle school.
Bruco “Bo” Strong Eagle Eastwood, a drifter with a history of violence, is charged with shooting 14-year-old Matthew Thieu and 13-year-old Reagan Weber. He remained in the Jefferson County jail Thursday in lieu of $1 million bail.
On Wednesday, Thieu was upgraded to fair condition.
“His mom said he is doing much better,” Techmeyer said.
Weber’s family said Thursday that Reagan is “holding up very well both physically and emotionally.” She was treated and released from a hospital Tuesday evening.
Classes will not resume until Monday, but students and parents can go to the school today to talk to teachers and counselors, said Lynn Setzer, spokeswoman for Jefferson County Public Schools.
“For schools that have been through something like this, it’s a way for kids to feel a little more comfortable before they get back in their routine,” Setzer said.
Sheriff Ted Mink said it would be too expensive to put a school resource officer in each middle school.
Recently, as budget woes linked to the recession forced belt-tightening, he did not consider reducing the number of school resource officers because their presence deters crime.
The officers meet every month and trade information about students who have gotten into trouble and might pose a security risk, Mink said.
He said although his preference would be for a trained deputy to confront a shooter, it isn’t always possible. Although some law enforcement experts discourage bystanders from getting involved, he said math teacher David Benke’s action likely saved lives.
“You can’t teach bravery,” Mink said.
The Sheriff’s Office thinks Eastwood entered the school shortly before the shooting, signed in at the front office and got a visitor’s badge. He then walked out of the school to get his rifle, Techmeyer said.
Sheriff’s investigators are looking into what he said to staff to get access to the school.
Jefferson County schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson said visitors are required to sign in at the front office and give a reason for coming into the school.
Kelley said investigators are trying to determine what, if anything, Eastwood did while in the school. He eventually left the building quietly, without being told to do so, she said.
“We have no evidence he wandered around the school,” Stevenson said. “We currently have no evidence that protocol was violated.”
After the criminal investigation is completed, the school district will do its own review to determine whether protocol was followed and whether additional training is needed.
Law enforcement officials will meet with district officials about the shooting to discuss ways to prevent similar incidents from happening, said A.J. DeAndrea, team leader of the Jefferson County Regional SWAT team.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
David Benke’s response
A letter e-mailed to family and friends by David Benke — who was first to tackle a gunman at Deer Creek Middle School — and reprinted with Benke’s permission:
Thank you so much for your love, support, strength, and help. I have read every one of your letters and wish I could reply to everyone individually. It is just that I write very slowly.
We all do things for different reasons. I went after the guy because I had promised my students that I would do something and as my brother said I didn’t like the idea of being a target. Norm Hanne piled on top of the guy because he was going to protect students no matter what and he continued to help students by getting them safe into a classroom while I was just walking around in the school office crying. Betty Miller came and held Matt’s hand and kept him talking before and after he was being treated. Jacquie Atkins helped Reagan get treatment for her wounded arm. Becky Brown came and got the gun away because she saw me wrestling with the guy and she helped me like she would help one of her brothers. Becky then went to kneel in the snow and hold a critically wounded student’s hand and kept talking with him and Betty until a parent who was an ER nurse suddenly appeared like an angel and helped take care of Matt until the EMS arrived and he was taken away by ambulance. Becky would have gone with him just as she would have her own wounded child if EMS let her. Her flat statement summed up the feelings of the staff at Deer Creek when Matt, who was in a lot of pain, asked, “Am I going to die?” Becky just replied, “Not on my watch.”
I did one thing that took an instant to decide and about 3 minutes of effort.
The rest of the faculty did things that were much braver. They endured the “minutes like hours” waiting in classrooms with the lights off and the doors locked keeping kids quiet.
Keeping them as safe as they could.
Everyone else responded the way they could and should. But the big thing was the attitude that Becky encapsulated in her statement.
If we could have told the students what we felt before the incident happened we would have said,
“Not on my watch. On my watch you are going to be as safe as I can make you.”
Sincerely,
Dr. David Benke
