Hospital: Teen who was shot at Colo. school dies
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| FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, file photo, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson holds a picture of Claire Davis, the 17-year-old student who was shot in the head by a classmate, during a briefing at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo. Hospital officials said in a statement Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013, that Davis has died. |
LITTLETON, Colo.
(AP) -- A suburban Denver high school student who was shot in the
head by a classmate died Saturday afternoon, hospital officials said in a
statement.
Claire Davis, 17, was in critical
condition after being shot at point-blank range at Arapahoe High School
on Dec. 13. Friends and well-wishers had posted prayers online and
raised money to help pay for her medical care.
"It
is with heavy hearts that we share that at 4:29 p.m. this afternoon,
Claire Davis passed away, with her family at her side," the statement
from Littleton Adventist Hospital.
"Despite
the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire's
fighting spirit, her injuries were too severe and the most advanced
medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life. Claire's
death is immensely heartbreaking for our entire community, our staff and
our families."
Karl Pierson, 18, shot Davis,
who just happened to be sitting nearby with a friend as Pierson, armed
with a shotgun, ammunition strapped to his body, Molotov cocktails and a
machete, entered the school and headed toward the library. Davis
appeared to be a random target, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson
has said.
Pierson likely intended to track
down a librarian who had disciplined him, but Robinson said Pierson's
arsenal suggested Pierson intended to hurt many others at the school
just 8 miles from Columbine High School.
Pierson
set off one of the incendiary devices and fired five shots before
killing himself just one minute and 20 seconds after entering the
building. He knew a sheriff's deputy assigned to the school was closing
in, Robinson said at a news conference.
Senior
Chris Davis, who is not related to Claire Davis, said she loved horses,
had a lot of friends and always seemed happy. Chris Davis, whose locker
is next to Claire's, helped organize a fundraising effort for her
family.
Students held vigils for Davis after the shooting. Typical was a story told by classmate Maggie Hurlbut.
"One
time I remember I was upset in the hallway, and she came up to me and
she just - it was like, `Hey Maggie, I know we don't know each other
well but are you doing OK?' And I told her yeah, and she was like,
`Anything you need, I'm here for you,'" Hurlbut said. "Again, that's who
she is, and she just wants to take care of others, and that was really
just a good representation of her character and who she was."
Gov. John Hickenlooper visited Davis and her family at the hospital and had asked for prayers.
Sheriff Robinson called Davis "a young woman of principle" and "an innocent young lady."
Pierson's
original target was believed to be a librarian who coached the school's
speech and debate team. Pierson was a skilled speaker and debater on
the team. The librarian, whose name was not released, had disciplined
the teen in September for reasons that haven't been disclosed. Robinson
said Pierson had made some sort of threat against the librarian in
September.
"We are looking into that, to the
degree that it was understood, and then what interactions or
interventions took place," the sheriff said.
The librarian was able to escape the school unharmed, Robinson said.
Pierson
legally purchased his shotgun at a local store a week before the
shooting and bought the ammunition the day of the shooting. Anyone 18
and older is allowed to buy a shotgun in Colorado; only those over 21
can legally buy a handgun.
Pierson, whose
parents were divorced, lived at least part of the time with his mother
in a higher-end neighborhood in suburban Highlands Ranch.
The
Arapahoe shooting came a day before the one-year anniversary of the
Newtown, Conn., attack in which a gunman killed 20 children and six
adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
