Denver Police Identified the Evergreen High School Shooting Suspect 24 Hours After Attack

A Denver County high school community faced a tragedy during the third week of school. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, authorities responded to a 911 call stating that there was an active shooter in Evergreen High School in Jefferson County. The high school shooting left at least two students with gunshot wounds.

Police also confirmed that the shooter was rushed to the hospital for a self-inflicted gunshot wound, where he later died. Since then, the suspect's identity has been revealed. Here's what to know.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) has identified 16-year-old Desmond Holly as the Evergreen High School shooter. According to KKTV in Colorado, Holly was a student at Evergreen and was described as an "active assailant" during a report of the shooting. Initially, he was included as one of the three students reported to have been shot before police realized he was the shooter.

JCSO stated that Holly shot one student in one of the streets behind the school, then another one inside the school, before pulling his gun on himself. The officials also shared that, while they don't know if the shooter targeted his victims, through their investigation, they believe he was indoctrinated "through an extremist network" prior to the shooting.

According to CBS News, JCSO's spokesperson, Jacki Kelley, revealed police were trying to get to the bottom of Holly's actions.

"We're looking at a motive, we don't have one yet," Kelley said. "Sometimes we never find out why."

JCSO also confirmed they're not sure how Holly obtained the handgun he used in the shooting. They also reached out to Holly's parents and were provided with a warrant to search his locker and phone.

Holly shot fire at his high school just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. During the shooting, Kelley said he incessantly tried to "fire and reload, fire and reload, fire and reload," which she said, "went on and on and as he did that, he had to continue to find more targets." She added that the students and faculty were a significant help in preventing more injuries and deaths than the outcome.

"The students and the teachers at the school were amazing," Kelley said. "They did their job, they did it well, and lives were saved yesterday because of the actions they took during their lockdown drill. Lots of kids ran, but the ones who didn't were in lockdown and were being cared for. We are sad there were any injuries, but grateful there weren't more."

Both of Holly's victims were sent to CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Denver following the shooting. As of this writing, one of the two victims is in "critical condition," while the other one was released on Wednesday after being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.