2006 Platte Canyon High School hostage crisis
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The Platte Canyon High School shooting was an incident that occurred at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado on September 27, 2006, in which Duane R. Morrison, a 53-year-old man,[1] entered the school building, reportedly saying that he had a bomb. He was initially reported as a bearded 35-year-old man with a camouflage backpack[2] and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt[3] who had taken six female students as hostages and released four of them while keeping the other two. One of the remaining hostages was shot, wounded critically and taken away by a helicopter. The other was not wounded. Paramedics at the scene confirmed that Morrison shot and killed himself. The hostage who was wounded, Emily Keyes, was pronounced dead at 4:32 p.m. MDT at Saint Anthony's Hospital in Denver, Colorado after undergoing emergency surgery.[4]
Entry and hostage-taking
About 11:40 a.m. MDT,[3] Duane R. Morrison entered the school carrying a gun and a backpack, which he claimed contained explosives. One report attributed to the local police stated that Morrison fired a single shot using his handgun when a teacher did not do what he asked. He then took six female students hostage inside a classroom on the second floor.[5]
After entering the classroom, where teacher Sandra Smith taught honors English, Morrison shot his handgun into the air and instructed all of the students to stand facing the chalkboard. He then told all of the male students their safety was not guaranteed. It is unclear whether Morrison sexually assaulted any of the female students in the room, but student Cassidy Grigg, without elaborating, stated, "There were some really bad things that happened in that classroom."[3]
Negotiations and evacuations
A "code white" alert was sounded over the intercom and students were instructed to remain in their classrooms.[6] Negotiations with the man began with the goal of allowing the six remaining hostages in the room to be released.[3] Rocky Mountain News reported that the six hostages were sexually assaulted, citing a "knowledgeable law enforcement source ... An unknown number were sexually assaulted before they were released."[4] The man spoke via telephone and used the student hostages as relayers between the negotiators and himself, who did not want to speak directly with officials. After four of the six girls were released, negotiators heightened the intensity of their indirect discussions with the man.[3] During this time Keyes managed to send her family a brief text message stating, "I love u [sic] guys."[1]
A total of 800 students from both Platte Canyon High School and the nearby Fitzsimmons Middle School were rapidly evacuated.[5] The man's demands were unknown, although police confirmed that his primary concern was a request for the police to back away. All students were safely evacuated by 12:10 p.m.[7] and by 3:00 p.m. all had been taken to Deer Creek Elementary School.[3]
The shooting
By the time the four student hostages were released, a bomb squad, SWAT team from Jefferson County, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were sent to the scene.[7] Ambulances parked in the end zone of the high school's football field.[6] A four-mile stretch of U.S. Route 285 was closed.[3] The man explicitly stated that he would stop negotiating at 4:00 p.m.[3]
Park County sheriff Fred Wegener (whose son was in the school building at the time of the incident)[4] said that police had chosen to storm the second-floor classroom after the man ended negotiations.[5] The police burst through the door at approximately 3:45 p.m. After using the hostages as human shields against the Jefferson County SWAT team, the suspect shot at the policemen,[4] and then at one of the hostages (16-year-old junior Emily Keyes),[3] committing suicide soon thereafter.[7] After police entered the classroom, Keyes was taken to a hospital in Denver, where she was pronounced dead. The other hostage survived.[5] Investigators found no sign of explosives in the man's backpack.[7]
The coroner of Park County, Sharon Morris, confirmed that the body of the man was still in the second-floor classroom as of 6 p.m., and district officials stated that both the high school and Fitzsimmons Middle School would be closed for September 28 and September 29, and that a counseling center set up at a local church would open at 7:00 a.m. for students.[4]
Parents were able to gain little information from authorities, who remained silent regarding the issue.[6]
See also
- List of hostage crises
- Columbine High School massacre
- Red Lake High School massacre
- Dawson College shooting
References
- ^ a b CNN. "Colorado Sheriff: High School Assault of Sexual Nature". Retrieved September 28.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ CBS. "Student, Gunman Die In Bailey Standoff". Retrieved September 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i The Denver Post. "Gunman, hostage die". Retrieved September 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e Rocky Mountain News. "High school hostages were sexually assaulted". Retrieved September 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d BBC World News. "US school siege ends in bloodshed". Retrieved September 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c The Age. "US school hostage dies in hospital". Retrieved September 27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d CNN.com. "Gunman, hostage dead after high school siege". Retrieved September 27.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)