Denver school shooter found dead; Why was he still allowed in school? How to get proactive in your kids’ school…

Austin Lyle, the 17-year-old who shot two school administrators at a Denver High School Wednesday was found dead Thursday in a nearby county.  He successfully shot himself dead.  The incident has sparked a lot of folks to ask why in the world was this misfit allowed to attend school?

He had posted some threatening posts last school year (in 2021) on social media sparking reports and a police investigation.  Cops found a rifle with an illegal suppressor in his room.  Pretty sure 15-year-olds aren’t eligible to get the ATF paperwork for a suppressor.

Local prosecutors pled the felony charges down and he got a year’s probation.

He was removed from Overland High School last school year and returned this year under a “safety plan” where he would be patted down every morning.

The only problem is that two unarmed school admins were doing the pat downs.

But if he needed to be frisked every morning before school, why in the heck was he allowed to return to school?  If they really thought he was that much of a danger, why didn’t they send him to alternative school?  Not only that, but I’m pretty sure if you or I were arrested for having an illegal suppressor, we wouldn’t get a year’s probation.

NBC has the story:

The Colorado high school student  who shot and injured two school administrators after they discovered his gun during a mandatory pat down had been on probation for a weapons charge, a law enforcement source said Thursday. 

Austin Lyle, 17, who shot two deans at Denver East High School on Wednesday, was arrested on a weapons charge in 2021 shortly before he was expelled from Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado, the source said. 

Classmates at Overland High School flagged posts about guns on Lyle’s social media, prompting police to visit his parents’ home, the source said. His parents let the officers in and they found a rifle with a “high capacity magazine and a silencer” in his room. Lyle was charged with a felony but the court dropped the charge and instead put him on one-year probation for the incident, the source said.

A representative for Cherry Creek School District said Lyle was “disciplined for violating board policy” during the 2021-2022 school year and consequently “removed from Overland High School.” It is unclear if the weapons incident was the violation.

Lyle then began attending Denver East High School and was bound by a “safety plan” which stated that he agreed to be patted down every morning, Denver police said.

The teen opened fire on two school staffers after they discovered a gun during his Wednesday morning pat down. Lyle was found dead in a nearby county following the incident, authorities said. Park County Coroner David Kintz Jr. said the results of a preliminary autopsy indicate Lyle died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

One parent in particular asked me how could they reasonably allow him back into school.

I don’t know, but I do know the vast majority of parents don’t even attempt to hold school officials and administrators responsible for implementing best-practices plans when it comes to school security.  Some have not even been inside their kids’ school.

My advice?  Get involved.  Don’t wait for someone else to hold school officials accountable.  You do it.  After all, they are your kids. The life you save may be your kid’s.  Especially if the school isn’t practicing modern security practices.  This isn’t the 1960s anymore.

Here’s how.