Re: “U.S. is short 10 million houses; White House report lays out a fix,” April 14 news story

The article about housing states that an “analysis notes that home prices have risen 82% since 2000, while incomes are up just 12%.” It is all well and good to attempt to reduce the cost of housing, which in a growing inflationary environment seems virtually impossible, particularly with the loss of construction workers.

Why are there seldom discussions about requiring businesses to pay livable wages? The federal minimum wage is . If it weren’t for Denver and other cities raising local minimum wages, even more people would be homeless. Why not change the dialogue to forcing the large businesses and billionaires to start paying decent wages to the same people who helped make them insanely wealthy?

Joe Crystal, Denver

We can take steps to prevent mass shootings

The anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting is not just a day of remembrance — it is a call to action.

Decades later, survivors still carry the weight of that day, and too many others have since joined them in grief. We owe them more than our thoughts and prayers.

For me, it is personal. I was a junior in high school when the attack occurred. It shaped my life’s trajectory. Today, I serve as the president of Eradicate Hate, an organization founded by the survivors of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. Our mission is urgent: to convene those with expertise and lived experience to forge solutions to prevent hate-fueled violence.

Prevention is possible. Research shows exhibit concerning behavior or communications before an attack. In 81% of , at least one person was aware of the attack in advance, and in 93% of these cases, that person was a peer. Students often see what adults miss.

That is the insight behind our UP End Hate initiative, which equips students with the tools they need to recognize warning signs and feel safe and empowered to speak up. During the pilot program, two students reported weapons on campus, demonstrating the program’s lifesaving potential.

Columbine inspired a generation of school-based violence. We know how to prevent it; success now depends on collective action and widespread adoption of proven tools.

Together, we can work to prevent the next act of hate-fueled violence before it occurs. To learn more, visit .

Brette Steele, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Doxxing is bullying, not free speech

Re: “Activist guilty of doxxing Denver police commander,” April 4 news story

In a democracy, it is accepted that being equal has to do with rights, not ability. The right to free speech was intended to protect people’s right to express ideas, even those critical of political and religious leaders. That some are particularly inept at expressing ideas and thus resort to insults, taunts, etc., is unfortunate but pretty common. The right to free speech protects speakers from bullying and intimidation, but it should protect those on both sides of an argument.

A person who puts themselves out there as a public servant knows that they will experience insults and challenges to their policies, but they should not have their families being bullied, intimidated or threatened. Doxxing is just a form of stupid bullying, not free speech.

A. Lynn Buschhoff, Denver

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“DPS appears to have exhibited a shocking disregard for the risk (the student) posed to an entire school full of children, faculty and staff — as well as to himself,” U.S. District Judge Gordon Gallagher wrote in his decision last week.

Sinclair, a former dean at the school, sued DPS last year after he was injured in the March 22, 2023, shooting at East High. A student, Austin Lyle, shot Sinclair and another administrator, Wayne Mason, before fleeing and later dying by suicide.

DPS said in a statement Thursday that the judge’s order “does not mean the court found DPS to have violated the law.”

“At this stage in the proceedings, the court must take what the plaintiff has alleged as fact and make a decision accordingly,” the district said. “DPS has not had the opportunity to present its own facts and evidence. Denver Public Schools is confident that the evidence will demonstrate that its actions in this case were consistent with legal requirements and looks forward to the opportunity to present its arguments in court in the near future.”

Prior to enrolling at East, Lyle had been expelled from Overland High School in the after police found an AR-15 assault rifle, two fully-loaded magazines, a plastic bag with spent shells, boxes of ammunition and a silencer in his bedroom, according to court documents.

East High administrators placed Lyle on a safety plan when he enrolled, which included daily check-ins with Assistant Principal Shawn Anderson, documents show.

On March 2, 2023, an East High student sent Anderson a text with a picture that appeared to show a gun in Lyle’s pocket. The assistant principal searched the student¶¶Òőap backpack but did not find a weapon.

Anderson altered Lyle’s safety plan four days later to require a daily search of the student¶¶Òőap backpack, court records show.

On March 23, Lyle entered the school and told Mason he needed to see Anderson, who did not respond after being radioed. Sinclair took Lyle into Anderson’s office to wait for the assistant principal.

The student told Sinclair he could check his backpack if he wanted. While searching the bag, the dean “noticed a bulge in the front pocket” of Lyle’s hoodie, the judge wrote in his ruling.

Lyle grabbed Sinclair’s hand and put it on the outside of the hoodie, saying, “Here, touch it,” the judge wrote.

Sinclair knew it was a gun after feeling the hoodie and tried to keep Lyle in the office. But the student pulled the gun and a struggle began between the two.

Lyle shot Sinclair in his thigh and through his stomach and chest, resulting in the loss of his spleen, according to the ruling. He also shot Mason.

Sinclair alleged in his lawsuit that East High staff weren’t adequately trained on how to search students for weapons and that the district¶¶Òőap discipline policies weren’t implemented as written.

The dean filed his suit against the district, the Board of Education, individual board members and Anderson. Gallagher dismissed the latter two from the case in last week’s ruling.

“We are encouraged by the court¶¶Òőap decision to dismiss several key components of this case, including the dismissal of the claims against the Denver Public Schools Board of Education and the named former school assistant principal,” DPS said. “…The events of March 2023 were a tragedy that profoundly affected our educators and students. DPS remains committed to the safety and well-being of our entire school community.”

Mason also filed a lawsuit against DPS and that case remains ongoing, according to court records.

Re: “Blackout hits nation; island struggles with energy crisis,” March 17 news story

I grew up during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and our country was rightfully terrified with the prospect of a nuclear-armed Cuba just 90 miles from our shores.  Because of the stoic strength of President John F. Kennedy, a substantial crisis was avoided.  As recounted in the Naval History and Heritage Command, “President John F. Kennedy and an alerted and aroused American government, military, and public compelled the Soviets” to remove all offensive ballistic missiles from Cuba.

Since then, Cuba has been mired in poverty, struggling economically, and having no prospects to become anything better than a third-world country.  Nonetheless, President Donald Trump has decided to focus on making matters worse there, likely due to the pressures and desires of the many ex-Cubans in America.  He essentially cut off all oil supplies to this nation, and along with the easy “victory” campaign in Venezuela, he now feels empowered beyond belief.

Fast forward to March 2026. President Trump said that he would have “the honor of taking Cuba” and that he thinks he could do anything he wants with it.  He unilaterally declared war on Iran, likely due to the pressures and desires of Israel.

Under our American system of government, no one person has, nor should ever have, the power to use our military might to his or her choosing. He does so with total disregard for the will of Congress, the American public, or his allies. The wannabe ruler of the world has to be held in check, and history will document how this plays out in the near future.

I hope we have “an alerted and aroused government, military and public” to stop this imperialistic wannabe.

H. Rene Ramirez, Aurora

Colorado unemployment benefits didn’t work for me

My employer let me go over eight weeks ago. I am 66 years old and have worked professional jobs for relatively high pay for the past 35 years. I have applied for unemployment with the state for over two months with no success. Are there so many fraudulent claims that those who legitimately deserve unemployment are denied? It would have been helpful to have received a few payments to help make ends meet before applying for reduced social security benefits. What is up with the system?

Scot Martin, Littleton

We want our property tax bill in the mail

Re: “Denver stops mailing paper property tax bills,” Jan. 29 news story

We received a shiny postcard from the Denver Treasury Division before the article was printed. The postcard did not say that we could phone and request a mailed copy. Instead, it said essentially, “This notification serves as your only notice for property taxes due in 2026.”

We always paid the tax bill as soon as we received it. Now in our old age, finding and printing the bill costs too much of our precious time.
Your article stated the city saved about $100,000 annually in mailing costs. We would be happy to pay the additional cost if they mail us bills in the future.

They also cited a cost of 500,000 pieces of paper. Doesn’t the Finance Division use recycled paper, which helps create a market for recycling?

Sheila Bernhard, Denver

Applaud the synagogue that planned before the attack

Re: “Synagogue had been bolstering its security,” March 15 news story

I appreciate and applaud the Synagogue that rid itself succinctly of this terrorist. I question why we are not doing the same for our schools? Our precious children sit in classrooms every day with no one to defend them if such an attack were to occur.

Deanna R. Walworth, Brighton

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U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen unveiled a federal bill that would require social media companies to respond to warrants and subpoenas related to “credible threats” within three days, versus the 35 days it can take now.

She said response delays were a “devastating and glaring policy failure” that contributed to the shooting in Evergreen in September.

State Rep. Tammy Story, an Evergreen Democrat, said she planned to introduce similar legislation in the Colorado legislature in coming weeks, echoing another bill filed last month. A bill that included a three-day timeline for social media companies to comply with state warrants was vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis last year, though his cited concerns were with other provisions in the legislation.

The FBI had been investigating threats made by Desmond Holly, the 16-year-old shooter in Evergreen, for two months before he shot two students and himself in September, officials said.

That included filing an initial search warrant on July 5 looking for Holly’s IP address, a numeric designation that identifies a location on the internet; a second search warrant seeking additional information; and finally, a third search warrant seeking Holly’s home address, Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli said.

Hours after the shooting happened, the third warrant came back with the address. She didn’t provide a more specific time frame.

“Because of the time it took to get those search warrants back, the shooting had already occurred,” Marinelli said.

“Tragically, that identity wasn’t revealed until after the shooting, nearly two months later — preventing our law enforcement from intervening and being able to stop this from ever happening,” Pettersen, a Democrat whose congressional district includes Evergreen, said Monday.

Before the attack, the FBI had found that Desmond was “discussing the planning of a mass shooting with threats non-specific in nature.” But agents could not identify the account holder for the social media accounts, so there was no probable cause for arrest or other federal action before the attack, the FBI said in a statement shortly after the shooting.

The shooter appeared to be involved in violent, nihilistic online networks, according to extremism experts. His social media accounts exhibited a mix of white supremacy, antisemitism, and a fascination with violence and mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

On Sept. 10, Desmond shot two students at Evergreen High and then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two other students survived.

Pettersen said she was still working to win bipartisan support for the federal measure, which is one of three she said she planned to introduce. The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are each controlled by Republicans. She will also need to overcome any objections from deep-pocketed social media companies.

“Unfortunately, there’s been significant pushback from social media companies in general for any accountability,” Pettersen said, though she added that she had been working with TikTok.

But if the measure were law, she was confident “that they would absolutely work to meet the moment” and work with law enforcement on warrants to identify possible threats.

In addition to the response deadline bill, Pettersen also introduced legislation that would allow the Department of Justice to issue grants so local entities could buy firearm storage and distribute it to community members. Her third bill would create a federal grant to provide training and assistance to implement extreme risk protection orders, also called red-flag orders, and develop standardized training nationwide.

At the state level, Democrats control each chamber of the legislature. The bill last year that included the deadline for complying with warrants, , passed with sweeping bipartisan support, though backers couldn’t rally enough support to override Polis’ veto.

Polis spokesman Eric Maruyama said Monday that Polis believes the search warrants bill that was already filed — — takes a good approach to ensure “social media companies are responsive to warrants” so that law enforcement can investigate online crime.

SB-11, which has a bipartisan set of sponsors and is set for its first hearing Wednesday, would also give a 72-hour window for online platforms, including social media companies, to comply with search warrants. It would require them to maintain a staffed hotline for law enforcement to contact.

But Maruyama cautioned that the governor would want any bill, including Story’s still-pending legislation, to meet certain constraints.

“The governor wants to protect internet freedom while making Coloradans safer, but would have serious concerns about any bills that negatively impact freedom, innovation and privacy,” Maruyama wrote in an email. “He is not comfortable with the government forcing social media companies to act as law enforcement.”

Story said she’d had an “initial discussion” with the governor’s office about this year’s upcoming bill and that she believed it is in “a better place” than last year’s vetoed bill.

“We are choosing to prioritize the safety of our students and teachers over the administrative convenience of billion-dollar corporations,” Story said. “We owe the people of Evergreen nothing less.”

The teen first warned his fellow students at Evergreen High School that there was a shooter on campus, then he confronted the shooter on the street outside the high school. Silverstone was shot twice.

He spent a month in a Lakewood hospital fighting for his life and then recovering from the wounds that almost killed him. He was released from the hospital Tuesday in what his family called a miracle, and we call a blessing.

“Matthew has never given up. He can now speak. In fact, he is happy to tell you, ‘I’m still alive!’ He can walk with assistance,” his family said in a news release. “His friends will tell you his sense of humor is back. He has exceeded everyone’s expectations in his recovery.”

Silverstone was both brave and selfless on Sept. 10, and it sounds like he continues to shine through his recovery, giving everyone hope in these dark times.

Silverstone is not alone in his distinction as a true Colorado hero.

Another student who was shot at Evergreen High School last month confronted the shooter. At the age of 14, the victim’s family has understandably chosen to remain anonymous and keep out of the public eye. We wish to respect their privacy while also highlighting the incredible act.

Both students remind us of Kendrick Castillo, who was killed defending his classmates inside a Highlands Ranch school in 2019. Castillo was joined by other classmates — Brendan Bialy and Joshua Jones — as they lunged at a shooter, saving others. Bialy was not hurt, but Jones was shot twice.

We are torn between celebrating these incredible acts and crying for the state of our country. Mass shootings have been occurring in Colorado schools since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. How is it that students are still the ones confronting these assailants and not our trained adult professionals in law enforcement? Every school in this state needs an armed officer on campus at all times.

We should not be asking our kids to save themselves. More must be done to protect students who attend school hoping to grow and learn, and far too often in the past decade have found themselves trying to survive the horrors of mass shootings and the trauma that follows.

Nine minutes passed between when the shooting began inside Evergreen High School and when Silverstone was shot at the corner of Buffalo Park Road and Olive Road at the far end of the high school’s campus. Having an officer on the campus could have resulted in a different outcome.

Expressing gratitude to these kids for their acts of heroism is not enough. We can name a street for Silverstone (and should, just as we created Castillo Way). We can cry for their pain and suffering, and rejoice at their perseverance and determination.

But adults in Colorado must now act to ensure that no other child in this state is forced to fight an armed assailant for their lives and the lives of their friends and teachers.

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Updated 2:10 p.m. Oct. 17, 2025: Due to an editor’s error, this article previously misreported details about the shooting of Matthew Silverstone. 

Matthew Silverstone left CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood with about 140 first responders and hospital staff holding blue balloons and cheering his release, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. His current location is confidential.

Silverstone was shot twice — once in the head and once in the chest — when he confronted a shooter at his school on Sept. 10. Silverstone warned fellow students to flee and fought with the shooter near the end of the nine-minute attack.

A witness told The Denver Post that he saw two boys — later identified as the shooter and Silverstone — near the intersection of Buffalo Park Road and South Olive Road before the shooter threw Silverstone to the ground and shot him.

Silverstone’s heart stopped once at the scene and again on the ambulance ride to the hospital, the news release said.

The teen’s family called his release five weeks after the attack “nothing short of miraculous.”

“After emergency surgeries, the doctors prepared us for the worst,” the family said in the sheriff’s news release. “But Matthew has never given up. He can now speak. In fact, he is happy to tell you, ‘I’m still alive!’ He can walk with assistance. His friends will tell you his sense of humor is back. He has exceeded everyone’s expectations in his recovery.”

Paige Silverstone, the teen’s mother, also thanked the law enforcement, health care workers and other students who have helped Matthew through his recovery.

“Your generosity has reminded us that we are not alone,” she said.  “Each act of kindness, each word of encouragement, each prayer, has lifted Matthew and all of us more than I can ever express. You have helped carry us through our darkest moments. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for standing with us, for believing in miracles, and helping us hold on to hope.”

A 14-year-old who was shot during the attack left the hospital on Oct. 2.

That student, whose name has not been disclosed, confronted the shooter as the attack began and was shot at close range.

The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the attack. Authorities said he had been radicalized online by watching violent and extremist videos.

They, along with mental health experts, recommend parents monitor their kids’ online activity as well as learn the language that is often used in such spaces so that they know what children are being exposed to.

“What we see online happening with our children is desensitization of killing, of death, of what it means to take a life,” said Susan Payne, a national school safety expert and founder of Colorado’s reporting system. “
We have to understand warning signs and indicators really are changing as we go more into a digital age.”

Here are five steps that experts said parents can take to help keep their kids safe:

Don’t rush to give a child a social media account

Mental health experts do not recommend that children have sole access to social media until they become adolescents because their brain development isn’t ready to navigate such content without the supervision of an adult.

There isn’t a set age that mental health experts recommend a child be given their own account, as each individual will be ready at a different time, said Jessica Hawks, a child and adolescent psychologist at

Monitor and limit a child’s social media activity

Parents should monitor their child’s social media activity once they are given their own accounts. This includes being able to log in and see who their kids are talking to and what’s showing up on their social feeds, Hawks said.

Parents should also set guidelines for overall screen use, such as not allowing phones to be used in bedrooms at night, she said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that families create

It’s not just parents who need to be aware of how kids are accessing dangerous content online.

Schools should also think about what websites they allow students to access on their computers and how to make it more difficult for them to come across violent content, said Oren Segal, the senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence.

Talk with children about what they are seeing online

Parents should regularly check in with their kids to learn what they are being exposed to online, but these conversations are especially important after a traumatic event — such as the Evergreen High shooting — happens, Hawks said.

“It’s really important for parents to go to these kids and initiate these kinds of conversations,” she said.

In these conversations, parents should follow their kids’ lead and let them express whatever feelings they have without minimizing them. Help normalize whatever emotions the child has, whether it’s anger, sadness or fear, Hawks said.

Parents should also avoid trying to problem-solve during the conversation, as it’s important that kids have a space where they can just talk, she said.

Parents should answer any questions their child might have in an open, calm and age-appropriate way. They shouldn’t try to insert their own opinions or political views or use inflammatory language, as that will help perpetuate the divide in society, Hawks said.

Instead, parents should stick to the basics, such as telling a child that violence is never OK, she said.

Parents and educators need to learn language used online

Online teens often use slang, symbols and slogans that adults may not understand to refer to white supremacy, antisemitism and mass shootings.

For example, the Evergreen High shooter liked a comment online that asked if “bro gonna become a Hero.” The term “hero,” specifically the “er” in the word, is an incel term that references a past mass attack.

Incels are misogynists who believe the world is rigged against young men and that¶¶Òőap why they are unable to find romantic or sexual partners, experts say.

The Anti-Defamation League has an  of hate symbols and codes that parents and educators can use to familiarize themselves with.

Make sure a child has a trusted adult

A trusted adult is one of the most protective factors for a child’s mental health and preventing violence, according to mental health experts.

A trusted adult can be a family member, a coach or a teacher. They are someone a child or teen can talk to and helps them feel like they belong in the community, which means an adolescent is less likely to be drawn into online spaces that encourage them to engage in violence, experts said.

But some of the references were enigmatic enough that they might appear innocuous to people unfamiliar with their meaning, which is why those experts say parents and teachers need to become aware of a new subculture that is developing online and exposing children and teens to violent extremism.

“We feel like people don’t even know that this is going on,” said Oren Segal, the senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence. “I need parents and educators to know this as much as law enforcement and tech companies. We need to understand there are these terrible places online, just a few swipes or clicks away.”

The Evergreen High attack reflects a convergence of school shootings and online extremism that has emerged in the U.S. in recent months — enough so that one researcher called this online radicalization the “new face” of school shootings.

“We’re getting to a place where school shooter-ism is actually developing momentum of its own,” said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the . “Previously, school shootings were a model for people who were lonely, isolated and suicidal. Now it¶¶Òőap almost its own ideology.”

Experts in extremism and mental health said the ease of access to violent content online is why it¶¶Òőap so important for parents to monitor — and limit — their kids’ activity on social media and other websites. The that often precede such attacks haven’t changed even as school shootings and online extremism have merged, they said.

The Evergreen shooter’s online footprint showed he was exposed to violent content in the dark corners of the internet. But experts said popular social media platforms such as and are also normalizing violence for young people and can be a gateway to more dangerous forums.

“It¶¶Òőap an entire ecosystem,” Segal said. “
It¶¶Òőap helpful to know there’s a problem, if you’re going to try to push back on that problem.”

The attack at Evergreen High is one of at least four shootings in the last nine months that were carried out by perpetrators who either revered mass violence or spent time in online spaces that glorify such behavior, according to experts in mass shootings and extremism.

Other similar shootings occurred at a in August, at in January and at in Madison, Wisconsin, in December. (The Evergreen shooter had posted a selfie taken by the Madison attacker along with a photo of himself mimicking her pose.)

School shootings are rare, and those connected to online radicalization even more so, experts said. But it¶¶Òőap important to examine how extremism is influencing such violence to understand a shooter’s motivation and prevent attacks, said Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the at the .

“We all want to know why something happened, and it¶¶Òőap really difficult because it¶¶Òőap so many moving variables and pieces,” she said.

But preventing a shooting isn’t something that schools and parents can do by themselves, especially given the role social media and online violent content are playing, Ware said.

“The gun violence, the social media radicalization question — those are issues for political leaders to handle,” he said. “And, of course, they are refusing to handle them, and school children are paying the price.”

Representatives from Jeffco Public Schools declined to comment for this story.

‘Misanthrope — that has always been there’

In some ways, the student who opened fire on his classmates at Evergreen High School on Sept. 10, critically injuring 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone and an unidentified 14-year-old boy, is similar to others who have carried out school shootings.

His online activity showed he was interested in mass shootings and the people who perpetrated that violence, and that he had access to a gun — and by posting such content, he participated in one of the key warning signs that experts said often precede school shootings: leakage, or telling others what they plan to do.

The parents of the Evergreen attacker, who fatally shot himself as law enforcement closed in, have not spoken publicly about their son.

Making a plan and gathering weapons aren’t just warning signs, but indications that an attack is imminent, said Beverly Kingston, director and senior research associate with the at the .

“I don’t think it¶¶Òőap necessarily different than the patterns that we are already seeing with school shooters,” she said. “A lot of times they seek out different groups, idealize past shooters — like the Columbine shooters and Parkland — and that¶¶Òőap one of the current warning signs.”

Even the Evergreen shooter’s involvement in nihilistic violent extremist networks — which call for violence as a way to destroy society — isn’t necessarily new, Ware said. Federal law enforcement authorities have now named the phenomenon, but the rejection of society has always been at play to an extent in school shootings, dating back to the 1999 Columbine High School attack, he said.

“Misanthrope — that has always been there,” Ware said.

But the shift happening now is in how nihilistic extremism and school shooter-ism are merging with incel extremism — a misogynistic view that the world is rigged against young men and that¶¶Òőap why they are unable to find romantic or sexual partners — and radicalizing young people, especially boys between the ages of 10 and 16, he said.

“The Colorado shooting exemplifies that,” Ware said.

Not only did the Evergreen shooter use white supremacist language and antisemitic symbols in his online posts, but he also showed familiarity with incel language, experts said.

In June, the 16-year-old shooter liked a comment that asked if “bro gonna become a Hero.” The term “hero,” specifically the “er” in the word, is an incel term that references the person who carried out the 2014 Isla Vista attack near the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus. The student in the Isla Vista attack had raged against women for rejecting him before killing six people and wounding more than a dozen more,

Despite the Evergreen shooter’s online footprint, his attack on his classmates was more likely driven by a desire to kill rather than a certain ideology or to spark political change, Ware said.

“I would be very surprised if he’s been fully indoctrinated into those ideologies,” he said.

School shootings always start with a grievance. This can be something real, such as a student being expelled, failing a test or bullying, Schildkraut said.

Or, she said, the grievance can be something more perceived, such as with the , New York, where the attacker — a teenager who held white supremacist views — was angry and stuck at home during the pandemic, and found a community online that reinforced those feelings.

Experts say violence is glorified online

What has changed is that, due to social media and other online forums, geographic boundaries no longer dictate who can influence children down a pathway of violence, experts said.

“Before social media, those elements all existed, but you could protect young people through gatekeepers like parents,” Ware said. “
These individuals in these movements, they have figured out their own collection of websites and social media collectives.”

And in these online communities, slang, symbols or slogans are being used that adults may not understand.

“We’re not speaking the same language,” said Susan Payne, a national school safety expert and founder of Colorado’s .

“How do we stay current and keep educated?” she said. “How do we make sure we are talking about those current ideologies and what that slang is?”

Adults, Payne said, are struggling to keep up with the language used online.

While these online communities espouse harmful views, they are less tied to those ideologies and more about normalizing violence and glorifying mass shooters, creating a space where young people can gain notoriety and a legacy if they carry out an attack, experts said.

“What¶¶Òőap different here is that we are seeing this kind of network that is not motivated by a hateful agenda or extremist ideology, but there are young kids carrying out the attacks who seem to be inspired by the violence by itself,” Segal said. 

Violence isn’t just normalized in the deep, dark corners of the internet, but also on popular platforms, such as X, where many watched videos of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, experts said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if (the Evergreen shooter)
 that they started with things that were more mainstream,” said Jessica Hawks, a child and adolescent psychologist at . “It tends to be a gateway where that type of exposure tends to start.”

Exposure to violent content on social media platforms negatively affects both children and adults’ mental health, creating a sense of fear, potential trauma and perpetuating the belief that schools and the world are not safe, according to mental health experts.

“For a subset of kids
 it can increase the likelihood that they can develop increased sustainability of violent behavior themselves,” Hawks said.

One of the most protective factors for preventing violence is for a child or teen to have a trusted adult in their life and to feel like they belong in the community, including at school, according to violence and mental health experts.

Young people who are more isolated from their peers and family and don’t have a sense of belonging are more likely to “find a home” in the online communities that are encouraging them to engage in violence, CU’s Kingston said. “That becomes where they’re becoming bonded to,” she said.

Mental health experts do not recommend that youth have independent access to social media until they become adolescents because their brain development hasn’t reached a place where they can navigate such content without the support of adults, Hawks said.

Parents should still monitor their children’s social media activity even after they get their own accounts so that they can log in and see who kids are interacting with and what¶¶Òőap showing up on their feeds, she said. Kids don’t have to seek out violent content for it to show up on their social media feeds unprompted, Hawks said.

That¶¶Òőap why it¶¶Òőap important for parents to also set guidelines for overall screen use, such as not allowing phones in bedrooms at night, she said.

“Parents need to be regularly checking in with their kid to create an opportunity to learn what their kids are being exposed to in general,” she said, adding that those conversations are also important to have after a traumatic event, such as the Evergreen shooting and Kirk’s death.

“Our kids pretty consistently know about and are thinking about difficult topics more than parents would predict,” Hawks said. “It¶¶Òőap fully important to have these conversations and initiate them. Initiating these conversations does not cause harm.”

Knowing the signs

Those who study mass shootings said would-be attackers almost always tell people what they are going to do, and it¶¶Òőap important that those signs — even if they are being shared online — are reported to authorities either directly or through a reporting system like so that a threat assessment can be done.

Teens who are being radicalized online are also likely to have changes in in-person behavior that can warn the adults in their lives that something is going on, and parents and educators need to be aware of when they need to get a child help, said Payne, the Safe2Tell founder.

In-person changes in behavior can include isolation, bursts of anger, how kids talk about issues and suicidal ideation, she said.

“We know that there are these warning signs,” said Schildkraut, of the Rockefeller Institute. “There is a lack of communication or training available about what this looks like for schools.”

The Evergreen shooter’s online presence showed he was active on websites that glorify deadly violence, and he posted on social media about getting a GoPro camera to potentially stream his attack. On the morning of the shooting, an X account tied to the teen posted a photo of a gun similar to the one used that day, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The organization, which monitors online threats, reported social media accounts later tied to the Evergreen shooter to the FBI over the summer, and the federal agency began investigating in July. The FBI did not identify the student or take any action before the attack.

FBI Director Kash Patel said during a congressional hearing after the shooting that the agency needs help from social media platforms to monitor and report potential threats to law enforcement.

“Proactively, going out on to these social media platforms, which are so large, are our biggest impediment,” Patel said when questioned by Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette. “
While the FBI has so many people, and the police are great at doing it, there are just too many platforms to cover down on.”

Schildkraut called the FBI’s inability to find the shooter a “failure issue by law enforcement.”

“If people saw the posts and reported them, then they knew there was concerning behavior going on,” she said.

Both schools and parents should think about how kids are accessing dangerous content online and make sure their devices block websites that promote extremism and glorify violence, the ADL’s Segal said. They also need to know how to recognize the that extremists use so that they know when to intervene, he said.

Weeks before the shooting, the ADL to 16,000 superintendents nationwide about how children and teens are being exposed to violence and extremism online.

“I don’t think we want to turn our teachers and educators into a military force, but the more they know about these issues, maybe the more signs that they see,” Segal said.

Delmer Martinez, who was in Evergreen for a roofing job, was on his lunch break Wednesday and passing by the high school’s property when he saw two boys who appeared to be fighting near Buffalo Park Road and South Olive Road, he said. He slowed down, then stopped and watched.

“I saw the guy, some teen, come out of a ditch, one where water comes out, and he pulled another boy, like by the chest, had him by the chest and threw him against the street and fired a shot,” Martinez said, speaking in Spanish.

“And when he shot the boy, he threw him forward and then he went crazy and started aiming at the other cars,” Martinez said. “In fact, my truck was the first one there, and then I got scared.”

FBI investigated Evergreen High School shooter’s social media before attack, failed to identify him

A 32-second video that Martinez recorded at 12:30 p.m. shows a wounded Matthew Silverstone, 18, lying on his back at the intersection. Law enforcement officers with their guns drawn walk up a driveway at the intersection and shout several times for someone who is not visible in the video to drop the gun.

"From where I was, the shooter never answered anything, never said anything," Martinez said. "Only the police officer told him to drop his gun, to stop, and no, the shooter wasn't listening. He didn't hear anything.”

A single gunshot can then be heard on the video.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Karlyn Tilley confirmed Tuesday that the 16-year-old suspect, Desmond Holly, shot himself near that intersection, and that Silverstone was also shot there, north of the school building, behind the football and soccer fields.

Desmond later died from the self-inflicted gunshot wound; the two wounded students remained hospitalized Tuesday. One victim has not been publicly identified.

In Martinez's videos, law enforcement officers can be seen performing CPR on Silverstone.

Martinez said the shooter was wearing a small brown vest, "like the ones they use for the cold, but like what hunters use when they go hunting."

He said he didn't realize until much later that evening that he'd witnessed the end of the school shooting, because his cell service was poor in the foothills.

"I had never seen anything like that before," he said.

Desmond fired about 20 rounds during the nine-minute attack -- from the time he started firing until he shot himself, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Tuesday. The first 911 call came in at 12:24 p.m., and officers arrived on scene within 2œ minutes, according to the sheriff's office.

Desmond wounded the other student inside the school, where he shot a revolver in several locations inside the building, according to the sheriff's office.

Evergreen High School shooter’s online footprint reflects new wave of extremism, experts say

Officials said Desmond acted alone and was "radicalized" before the attack. His social media profiles suggest he was part of a new wave of online extremism that encourages the use of violence to destroy society. The teenager's accounts were littered with references to white supremacy, antisemitism and violence, with a particular focus on past mass shootings, including the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.

The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors online threats, in July tipped the FBI to accounts that later would be tied to Desmond. The FBI investigated the accounts because the user was discussing "the planning of a mass shooting with threats non-specific in nature," the agency said in a statement Monday.

The federal investigation never identified Desmond as the person behind the accounts and the FBI took no other action before the attack at Evergreen High School, finding there was not probable cause for an arrest or further action by law enforcement, according to the agency's statement.

Classes at Evergreen High School were canceled for the week, and school officials have not yet said when the school will reopen. The school will be assigned a full-time school resource officer from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office when classes resume, according to a Sunday letter from school officials to staff, students and parents.

The FBI “opened an assessment into a social media account user whose identity was unknown and who was discussing the planning of a mass shooting with threats non-specific in nature,” the agency said in a statement.

“During the assessment investigation, the identity of the account user remained unknown, and thus there was no probable cause for arrest or additional law enforcement action at the federal level,” the statement continued.

Evergreen High School shooter’s online footprint reflects new wave of extremism, experts say

The investigation, , was ongoing before Wednesday's attack at the high school in the Jefferson County foothills, the FBI said.

The , which monitors online threats and extremism, tipped the FBI to 16-year-old Desmond Holly's accounts, Oren Segal, the organization's senior vice president of counter-extremism and intelligence, said in a statement Monday. The ADL regularly shares information with law enforcement.

"We shared profiles and activity at the time with law enforcement for actions they deemed necessary based on what was available at the time," Segal said in the statement. "We have since learned those profiles belonged to the individual responsible for the shooting in Evergreen."

The teen shooter's social media accounts showed that he was likely involved in a form of online extremism that calls for violence as a way to destroy society, experts told The Denver Post last week. His accounts displayed a mix of white supremacy, antisemitism and a fascination with violence and mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

The shooter's social media footprint fits into a new wave of online extremism and suggests he was involved in nihilistic violent extremist networks, which often aim to exploit children and teenagers and push them toward violence, experts told The Post. The 16-year-old likely had an interest in mass shootings and then sought out the online extremist spaces, where he learned the cultural script for carrying out such an attack, experts said.

The teenager collected tactical gear and talked online about getting a GoPro camera. He posted multiple photos on TikTok showing a T-shirt that he apparently designed to be similar to one worn by one of the Columbine attackers, and, in a selfie, mimicked another school shooter's pose.

On an X account linked to the teen, a post about an hour before the shooting showed an image of a hand holding a revolver -- the type of gun used in the Evergreen High attack.

The 16-year-old, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, acted alone, Karlyn Tilley, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, said Monday. There was no second shooter during the attack at Evergreen High, despite persistent rumors of one, she said.

"We are 100% confident that he was acting alone," she said.

Some students who were in lockdown inside the school believed there were two shooters, in part because people banged on the doors to their hiding places and claimed to be police officers.

Those people banging on doors may, in fact, have been law enforcement and first responders, Tilley said Monday.

"Some of the law enforcement likely did pound on doors and say, 'Hey, we are law enforcement, let us in,'" she said. "But what we try to train people on is that they do not unlock the doors for anyone, no matter what they are saying, and that eventually we will get to those doors with keys."

An exception to keeping the doors shut in an active-shooter scenario would be if students inside were injured or needed immediate help, she noted. Authorities previously said much of the shooter's attack was captured on surveillance video.

On Thursday, a sheriff's spokeswoman said that closed, locked doors inside the school likely prevented the shooter from reaching additional victims.

The two students wounded in the shooting, including 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone, remained hospitalized Monday. The second student has not been publicly identified. One student was in critical but stable condition, and the other was in serious condition.

Investigators believe the 16-year-old opened fire with a revolver. Tilley on Monday declined to answer questions about how the 16-year-old accessed the gun he used in the attack or whether his parents or others could face criminal charges, citing the ongoing investigation.

Classes at Evergreen High School remain canceled this week, and Jeffco Public Schools officials have not confirmed when the school will reopen. But they say several security measures -- including posting a full-time school resource officer from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office -- will be implemented before classes resume, according to a letter sent Sunday to Evergreen High students, staff and families.

"Over the past several days, our Evergreen community has shown incredible strength and care for one another," principal Skyler Artes and superintendent Tracy Dorland wrote in the joint letter. "As we look ahead, we know that what matters most right now is creating a clear and thoughtful path forward for our students, staff and families, while prioritizing your mental health and wellbeing."

Artes said she will release the plan for students to return to school by Sunday.

Denver Post staff writer Lauren Penington contributed to this report.