From the BBC:
“'Columbine-obsessed' woman accused of Denver school threats
found dead”
An 18-year-old woman suspected of
making threats to Denver-area schools has been found dead in an apparent
suicide, according to police. Sol Pais
was reportedly obsessed with the 1999 Columbine high school massacre, in which
two teenagers murdered 12 students and a teacher. The alleged threat led to
school closures, affecting more than 400,000 students, and a manhunt for the
woman. She flew to Denver ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Columbine
shooting. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader told reporters on Wednesday
that she died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI earlier
tweeted there was no longer a threat to the community and the suspect is
deceased. Sol Pais was reportedly
obsessed with the Columbine massacre Officials
said at a news conference that local schools would reopen on Thursday and
events marking the anniversary of the 1999 shooting would continue on Saturday.
The Miami Beach high school student
travelled to Denver from Miami on Monday night and purchased a pump-action
shotgun and ammunition, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said. At a second news conference later on
Wednesday, FBI Denver special agent in charge Dean Phillips said that "a
combination of her actions and comments" alerted authorities to Pais as a
possible threat. Mr Phillips said that
Pais made comments in person and online related to her "infatuation"
with Columbine. And she had purchased three one-way tickets to Denver from
Miami for 15, 16 and 17 April, before taking the first flight on Monday. Mr
Phillips said Pais went directly to purchase the weapon after landing. Authorities are now conducting an
investigation to ensure Pais had no accomplices and that there is no further
threat. "You should feel confident that your law enforcement community is
protecting you and keeping you safe," Mr Phillips said. Police had considered her armed and extremely
dangerous. Nearly 30 armed officers
swarm the woods near the Echo Park Campground in the Arapaho National Forest,
CBS News reports. The Echo Lake Lodge,
nearby to where she was reportedly found, does not open until late May due to
weather. Witnesses told local media that
she was seen running naked and armed with a gun in the area earlier on
Wednesday. She had last been spotted in the Mt Evans area dropped off by a
"for-rent vehicle", Mr Phillips said.
A tragedy that cuts deep
Littleton was already on high
alert because they've faced threats in the past, and this was another scary
reminder that the mass shooting will perhaps forever affect life in this city.
One Columbine survivor told me that when she heard the news, she questioned her
safety and took a different route home in a moment of panic. Today, schools are
closed, empty, and deemed unsafe. John McDonald is in charge of security for
the school district that includes Columbine. He told me he was angry that as a
country, Americans had done nothing but point fingers for the last 20 years,
and as a result children weren't just dead, they were unsafe to attend school. Columbine
isn't even among the 10 deadliest mass shootings in this country any more. Yet,
it is still a tragedy that cuts deep and becomes more painful with each
reminder that nothing has changed. The suspect's family had urged her to turn
herself in as authorities launched a manhunt. "It's like a bad dream. We don't know. We
don't have any ideas," her father told CBS News in Miami. Mr Phillips
declined to answer questions related to Pais' mental health. According to the
news outlet, more than 130 schools in and around Denver had closed as officials
searched for her. At the news conference Tuesday afternoon, Mr Phillips said
there had been information about a specifically targeted school. Asked about a
possible "overreach" in keeping so many students home from school Mr
Phillips responded, "As a parent I would say thank you to the school
system for protecting my child."
^ Clearly this woman was mentally
unstable and both Colorado and the country is better off now that she is dead. I’m
sure there were signs that her friends and family over-looked (there always are.)
The main thing here is that the children in the Denver area schools are now
safe and can remember the 20th anniversary of the Columbine Shooting
(again friends and family of the two shooters should have seen all the signs
right in front of them) and honor the innocent people murdered. ^
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