On Tuesday, May 7, 2019, a tragic shooting took place at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado. This shooting was especially devastating and emotional for the Denver community as well as “disturbingly familiar” (CNN), because it happened just seven miles away from the Columbine shooting, which took place nearly twenty years ago. Within minutes of the beginning of the shooting, one 18-year old student was killed and eight others were injured. The response time of the authorities was two minutes after the first notifying call, which is much quicker than that of the Columbine shooting being 47 minutes. This is an important factor of what may have helped to prevent a higher number of causalities.

    The two suspects, who are believed to be students, were taken into custody and have been identified. According to CNN, senior Brandon Bialy and two of his friends attempted to tackle one of the gunmen, one of the boys was shot in the chest. The other two applied pressure to his chest, and the boy “suffered two gunshot wounds and is recovering at home,” according to The Denver Post. According to CNN, the Whitehouse made a statement, which said, “tragically, this community and those surrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts of violence.” Authorities say that students followed the ‘run-hide-fight’ protocol exactly as they should have, according to CNN. This tragedy has brought the frequent occurrence of school shootings in the US back to the attention of many.