On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, the quiet halls of Evergreen High School in Jefferson County, Colorado, were shattered by the sound of gunfire. Students who had been scattered throughout the building—some enjoying lunch, others moving between classes—suddenly found themselves in a fight-or-flight scenario all too familiar to communities across the state. As shots rang out, chaos erupted. Many students bolted for safety, sprinting down hallways, out doors, and even into neighboring streets and buildings. Others barricaded themselves in classrooms, following the lockdown drills they’d been taught, while a few found shelter in the most unlikely places, desperate to avoid harm.
According to Jacki Kelley, Public Information Officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the situation was as unpredictable as it was terrifying. “I think there was a lot of chaos yesterday. We know that some kids were on lunch, which gave them more freedom and access to hallways and outdoors, and we know that there were a lot of kids who ran, and a lot of kids who locked down,” Kelley told CBS Colorado. “I don't think that's avoidable when you have something like this.”
Once the immediate threat was contained and the scene declared safe, first responders began the painstaking process of reuniting students with their families. But the aftermath was anything but orderly. Parents converged on the area, desperate for reassurance, only to be met with confusion and shifting information about where and how reunification would occur. Communication from Jefferson County Public Schools, some parents said, was contradictory and confusing. One parent vented to CBS Colorado, “The communication from JeffCo was contradictory and confusing, I had no idea if my student was safe. This has been a horrific day.”
The lack of a full-time school resource officer (SRO) at Evergreen High School that day added another layer of complexity. The school’s regular SRO was on medical leave, leaving the role to be filled part-time. During the shooting, the part-time SRO had been dispatched to a nearby accident but rushed back to the school within minutes of the first shots. Still, the absence of an SRO on campus at the critical moment was keenly felt.
Kelley acknowledged the challenges of the day, explaining, “We’re not critical of those kids who ran to neighborhoods, who ran to the rec center, who ran down the street or went to the library; they went everywhere. So, unifying all of that was a bit of a challenge yesterday, and that's just going to happen. It's just chaos, and it took a while to get our arms around that, get buses to the right places, and get parents back to their kids.”
Yet amidst the confusion, there were moments of remarkable resilience. Kelley praised the quick-thinking teachers and students who enacted lockdown protocols, likely saving lives in the process. “He would fire and reload, fire and reload, fire and reload. This went on and on. And as he did that, he tried to find new targets,” Kelley recounted to CPR News. “He came up against a roadblock on many of those doors. He couldn't get to those kids.”
Colorado’s tragic familiarity with school shootings has shaped its approach to prevention and response. Since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which left an indelible mark on the state and the nation, Colorado has worked to build a network of laws, reporting systems, and mental health programs aimed at stopping violence before it starts. In 2004, the state launched Safe2Tell, a statewide anonymous bystander reporting system. The program, accessible via app, text, and hotline, encourages students, parents, and community members to report safety concerns before they escalate. Safe2Tell also provides technical assistance to schools and outreach campaigns to break the “code of silence” that can prevent early intervention.
The Office of School Safety oversees many of Colorado’s prevention strategies, including mental health programs and emergency planning. The state’s I Matter program offers limited free counseling sessions to all youth under 18, providing a crucial resource for those grappling with trauma. Recent legislative measures have further bolstered these efforts, creating a crisis response unit, the Colorado School Safety Resource Center, and implementing trauma-informed drills designed to reduce the psychological toll on students as they train for potential violence.
But even with these programs in place, the Evergreen shooting highlighted persistent gaps. Implementation of threat assessments and mental health support varies widely by school district, and many schools are understaffed in critical roles like psychologists and social workers. Colorado has experienced 25 incidents of gunfire on school campuses since 2013, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Each incident is a stark reminder that the work of prevention is far from finished.
In addition to school-based interventions, Colorado lawmakers have passed a suite of gun laws targeting those at risk of violence. These include universal background checks for all gun sales, Extreme Risk Protection Orders (often called “red flag” laws) that allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed dangerous, safe storage requirements to prevent children from accessing guns, and restrictions on domestic abusers and violent offenders. The minimum purchase age for all firearms and ammunition has been raised to 21, with the ammunition age requirement taking effect next year. In 2025, lawmakers passed a new permit requirement for many weapons with detachable magazines, set to become law in 2026.
Despite these legislative efforts, experts caution that laws alone can’t guarantee safety. The newly established Office of Gun Violence Prevention is tasked with studying the effectiveness of anti-violence strategies and sharing best practices, but the uneven implementation of threat assessments and the chronic shortage of mental health professionals remain significant obstacles.
For survivors, the trauma doesn’t end when the cameras leave. Heather Martin, a survivor of Columbine and co-founder of the Rebels Project, told CPR News that support for survivors often fades too soon. “In Columbine, our funding dissolved within three years,” Martin said. “So I think that being more trauma-informed as a society has gotten a little bit better, but providing resources in the long run needs to be on the priority list.”
Martin emphasized the importance of listening without judgment in the aftermath of such tragedies. “Survivors are very hard on themselves. In my experience, I came up with all kinds of ways to minimize my trauma and minimize my experience. Like, ‘Oh, I wasn't in this room,’ which is where everything happened. ‘I didn't see this. I didn't know the people.’ I think that's normal for survivors to do that, but I think it gets dangerous when it's reinforced by other people, because that's when you start to question yourself. You hesitate reaching out for help because you feel like you don't deserve it or you don't belong in a group of survivors. So it can lead to some pretty dangerous places.”
Recognizing the need for ongoing care, authorities set up a Resource Information Center at Bergen Meadow Elementary’s old building, staffed with victim advocates and mental health professionals, to support those affected by the Evergreen shooting. The center opened on Thursday, September 11, and remained available on Friday, September 12. For anyone struggling, mental health support is available through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, the Colorado Crisis Services hotline at 1-844-493-8255, or by texting “TALK” to 38255.
As Evergreen and the wider Colorado community begin to process yet another tragedy, the call for long-term healing and systemic change rings louder than ever. The pain is immediate, but the work to prevent future violence and support survivors is a marathon, not a sprint.
