UPDATED: Colorado Teen Has Died From Injuries Sustained in School Shooting

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Category: Crime

Published on Monday, 16 December 2013 05:58

Written by Janet Walker

Claire Davis, 17, the Arapahoe teen shot at point blank range by a lone gunman who entered the Colorado suburb high school prepared for mass casualty, has died from injuries sustained in school shooting.

The gunman, identified as fellow Arapahoe student Karl Pierson, reportedly entered the high school located near Denver, wearing a bandolier loaded with ammunition, a backpack carrying three Molotov cocktails and a loaded shotgun.

Pierson began his assault in the school’s library were he targeted a former teacher Tracy Murphy. He was unable to located the teacher who by all accounts he called by name upon entering the building.

The teacher was not present, which began Pierson’s random assault. He approached Ms. Davis, and fired at point blank range. She had no time to react, run and attempt to flee. The shooter later died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

According to all sources the victim is an all around good kid, babysitter, great student and horse lover. She is in a coma, clinging to life, at Adventist Hospital, in very critical condition.

Her parents released a statement posted to the hospital's Facebook page, “The first responders got Claire to the right place, at the right time, and the doctors and hospital staff are doing a wonderful job taking care of her. We appreciate your continued good thoughts and prayers, and will provide updates as her condition improves. We again ask that you respect our wishes for privacy, and refrain from contacting us, our extended family, or Claire's friends and schoolmates, as we want to ensure that only accurate information about Claire is shared.”

The Arapahoe community came together, holding prayer vigils and impromptu retreats, over the weekend encouraging students from all High Schools who wanted to attend and seek solace with their peers.

Colorado has been the scene of several high profile mass shootings. On April 20, 1999 two students entered Columbine High School and slaughtered 12 fellow students and a teacher an additional 27 students injured and Aurora Theater Shooting on July 20, 2012 where 12 movie goers  were murdered and 70 injured.

The Arapahoe shooting came one day before the first year anniversary of the Sandy Hook School Shooting, the worst in modern U.S. History, that left 20 five and six year old and six dedicated educators dead.