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Colorado officials announced on Wednesday that they will not be filing gun-related charges against the parents of a teenager who wounded two students, leaving them with life-threatening injuries, during a high school shooting last fall. The decision comes after authorities found the evidence insufficient to proceed with charges.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office had been evaluating the possibility of charging Desmond Holly’s parents in connection with firearm access or storage following the incident on September 10 at Evergreen High School. However, investigators concluded there was no legal foundation to pursue such charges.
The shooting took place at Evergreen High School, located roughly 30 miles west of Denver, where Holly, aged 16, opened fire before turning the gun on himself. He succumbed to his injuries afterward.
Investigative reports revealed that the gun involved, a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver, was securely stored in a locked gun safe. Additionally, DNA testing did not connect either of Holly’s parents to the firearm.
In the aftermath of the tragic event, flowers were placed in memory of those affected by the shooting at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, on September 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Colleen Slevin)
According to investigators, the revolver was a family heirloom, and Holly did not have regular access to the safe.
The sheriff’s office said the parents initially spoke with authorities immediately after the shooting, and later provided written responses through legal counsel.
FILE: Students reunite with loved ones and classmates outside Bergen Meadow Elementary School after a shooting at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colo., on Sept. 10, 2025. At least three students were injured, including the suspected shooter, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Officials said the shooting did not appear to target specific individuals and was carried out at random.
The suspected shooter who fired a revolver at a high school in the Denver suburbs and injured two students has been identified as a 16-year-old boy who had been radicalized by an “extremist network,” law enforcement officials said Thursday. (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office / Getty Images)
Early in the investigation, authorities said Holly may have been influenced by an unspecified extremist network. Investigators later concluded he was not aligned with any particular extremist ideology, but had developed an online fixation on previous school shooters.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism reviewed Holly’s online activity and reported that he had engaged with violent online content and referenced past mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School attack. Evergreen High School is located in the same county as Columbine.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the family’s attorney for comment.