Suspect in Denver High School Shooting Found Dead

Investigators found the body Wednesday night of the 17-year-old student suspected of shooting two high school staff members earlier in the day.

The Park County Coroner’s Office identified the body as Austin Lyle and said his next of kin had been notified. No further information will be released until an autopsy is complete, the agency said.

The body was found at about 8:15 p.m. on Park County Road 68, about 50 miles from Denver East High School, where the shooting took Wednesday morning. The Park County Sheriff’s Office said investigators located a vehicle associated with Lyle on the road shortly before finding the body nearby.

The two East High staff members, both listed as deans at the school, were identified as Jerald Mason and Eric Sinclair. Denver Health said that Mason was treated and released on Wednesday, and Sinclair was in serious condition after surgery, KMGH reported.

The shooting took place during a required search of Lyle at the beginning of the school day, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Details of why Lyle was required to be search have not been released, but a source told KDVR it was related to Lyle’s having been expelled from another school district. The searches had been ongoing for some time, but on Wednesday, the student brought a gun.

School district superintendent Alex Marrero said after the shooting that East High classes would be cancelled for the week and that armed guards would return to all Denver high schools when classes resume on Monday. The school board voted in 2020 to removed all Denver police officers from schools in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers that year.

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[Featured image: A student, rear, hugs a woman as they reunite following a shooting at Denver East High School on March 22, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)]