The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the parents of Desmond Holly—who opened fire at Evergreen High School in Colorado and then died by suicide—will not face gun charges. Authorities said investigators examined whether the parents could be prosecuted for allegedly allowing access to a revolver kept in a locked gun safe or for how the firearm was stored, but concluded there was not enough evidence to bring charges.
Sheriff’s office officials said they were looking for evidence that could connect the parents to the Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver used in the Sept. 10 shooting. The sheriff’s office said Holly killed himself after opening fire at the school in the foothills about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Denver.
In the course of the investigation, the sheriff’s office said it obtained a court order to collect DNA samples from the parents and then analyzed those samples for DNA that could be linked to the gun. Investigators said they did not find the parents’ DNA on the revolver.
The sheriff’s office said the family’s lawyer, Douglas Richards, told investigators that the revolver—described as a family heirloom owned by a grandparent—was kept near the back of a large, locked gun safe. The sheriff’s office said its understanding of the lawyer’s account was that Holly did not have access to the safe except for brief times when it was opened by his father.
Richards told The Associated Press that the family believes Holly must have secretly taken the gun while he was cleaning other firearms with his father. Richards said, “Its disappearance didn’t become apparent until after the tragedy.”
The sheriff’s office also said investigators were unable to speak directly with the parents. Richards said the parents spoke with authorities right after the shooting and later answered questions in writing, adding that he did not want them interviewed further unless a prosecutor was present.
As investigators described the case, they said they believe Holly randomly shot at students at Evergreen High School. The sheriff’s office spokesperson, Jacki Kelley, said Wednesday that investigators previously told the public Holly had been radicalized by an unspecified “extremist network,” but later said the investigation found a more mixed picture of online engagement.
Kelley said investigators believed Holly had an obsession with other school shooters and had engaged with a mix of online groups, but was not committed to any particular kind of radicalization. She said further questions about those findings were referred to the FBI, which handled that portion of the probe.
The sheriff’s office cited a report by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism that, according to the description provided to The Associated Press, found Holly active on an online forum that featured videos of killings and violence. The report also said Holly’s activity mixed that content with material tied to white supremacism and antisemitism, and that he was fascinated by previous mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away from Evergreen. The sheriff’s office said information held by the FBI would require a records request.
Investigation details around third-party liability in school shootings often hinge on storage, access, and evidence thresholds that prosecutors must meet, and in this case authorities said they did not find enough evidence to pursue criminal charges against the parents.