Arapahoe High School student Karl Pierson reportedly shot a classmate before turning the gun on himself on Dec. 13, and many are trying to comprehend what caused him to turn to violence.
According to CBS News, 18-year-old Pierson was allegedly seeking revenge of his debate teacher Tracy Murphy, who had kicked him from the team. Student August Clary described the gunman as a smart person with a "passion for politics."
"He wasn't some creepy loner kid," Clary told CBS News. "He had a lot of friends."
Senior Max Minne gave ABC 7 News a similar description of the reported gunman.
"He was always the type that wanted to be right. He would always argue with the teacher about scholastic things, whatever we were talking about he always had something to say. Never wanted anyone to tell him he was wrong. I definitely noticed that in the classes I was in with him," Minne said. "He spoke intelligently, he's a smart guy, I think he did pretty well in school, he was just kinda weird. ... He wasn't a violent person, he was just verbally aggressive."
Murphy was able to escape the library on Friday, but student Claire Davis was caught in the crossfire. Pierson reportedly critically wounded Davis, a random victim who did not know the gunman.
"She was shot point blank with a shotgun in the face," Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told the "Face the Nation." "I visited her and her family. She's obviously in a coma."
According to CBS News, the shooting lasted less than two minutes. The Colorado school is just a few miles from Columbine High School in Littleton, where two gunmen opened fire killing 13 people before taking their own lives in 1999.
"We believe based on the fact that [Pierson] was armed with multiple rounds, armed with a machete and three incendiary devices, his intent was evil, and his evil intent was to harm multiple individuals," Grayson Robinson, Arapahoe County Sheriff told CBS News.
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