Hinkley High Shooting Update: 'No Concern For Life Whatsoever'

AURORA, CO — A triple shooting in an Aurora school parking lot Friday left three students hospitalized, police said. A 16-year-old has been arrested and he faces first-degree murder charges, according to officials.

The three victims were shot and injured outside Hinkley High School around noon, police said.

A fight started in the parking lot, and it turned into a shooting, Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said during a news conference Friday afternoon. A security officer returned fire, and applied a tourniquet to one of the victims, she said. It was unclear whether the officer struck anyone.

The school was placed on lockdown while an investigation was underway, and a phased release of students began around 2 p.m.

Two of the victims were students at Hinkley High School, and another was a student at a different school in the Aurora Public Schools district, Wilson said. One of the students who was shot was a suspect, she said.

Police were looking for multiple shooters, Wilson said. A video of a white pickup truck was circulating on social media, and police now have the truck, she said.

This is the second shooting near a school in Aurora this week — six teenagers were hospitalized after they were shot Monday afternoon at Nome Park. Detectives are investigating whether the two shootings are related.

The shooters are showing "no concern for life whatsoever," Wilson said.

"Everyone in this community should be very angry. We love our kids, but we need to be paying attention to what they’re doing. These kids have guns, and they got them from somewhere ... we need to check rooms, check phones ... we need the parents' help in this."

Some teenagers are using social media to buy weapons, Wilson said.

Some social media posts indicated that both Grandview and Rangeview high schools would be targeted in shootings next, she said.

Aurora police increased patrols at all local schools, and that will continue until the Thanksgiving weekend, Wilson said.

In a COVID-19 news conference Friday, Gov. Jared Polis said the state needs to redouble its efforts to reduce youth violence and improve public safety. He said the victims are "in our thoughts and prayers."

In a statement, Arapahoe County DA John Kellner said the shootings have "impacted students’ ability to feel safe at school."

"No child or teenager should be fearful just going to class – a normal activity we can all relate to. Our community rightly is demanding an end to this violence, and we will stand with them in using every tool we have to prosecute aggressively anyone connected to these attacks on students.”