Officials secured schools across the Denver area Tuesday as the FBI and local police hunted for a woman “infatuated with (the) Columbine school shooting” who had traveled to Colorado the night before, made threats and was considered armed and “extremely dangerous.”
Sol Pais, 18, who traveled to Colorado from Miami, was believed to be in the Denver-Littleton area after purchasing a pump-action shotgun as well as ammunition after leaving Denver International Airport, said Dean Phillips, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI office, during a Tuesday night news conference.
“This has become a massive manhunt,” Phillips said.
Authorities confirmed it was her presence that triggered lockouts — outer doors are bolted, but classes continue as normal — first at Columbine High School and more than 20 other Jefferson County institutions, then dozens of other schools across the wider metro area.
Late Tuesday night, Cherry Creek Schools announced that “all schools will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17 due to safety concerns related to a credible threat against schools in the area.”
The district, on Twitter, said all activities and athletics are also canceled. Employees were told not to report for work. A short time later, the Douglas County School District also announced that it will be closed on Wednesday and that “no employees are to report.”
Most other school districts also announced they would be closed on Wednesday, with before- and after-school activities also canceled.
Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader, who was with the sheriff’s office when Columbine happened, said the incident has opened wounds.
“We take these threats seriously; it’s certainly not the first threat that we’ve had involving Columbine High School,” Shrader said at the Tuesday night news conference. “This opens a wound, especially on anniversary week for those families who are most deeply impacted by this.”
Those impacted includes people across the country, Shrader said.
The threats came just four days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, during which two students shot and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher.
Officials said there has been no decision made yet about whether to cancel classes at Columbine or other Denver-area schools Wednesday, but they said they plan to be in contact with school superintendents overnight.
Stan Hilkey, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Education, said federal, state and local authorities are working together, including multiple school districts.
“It’s a dynamic situation; it can change rapidly,” Hilkey said.
Columbine, an agent of change, “produced this type of cooperation” being carried out between law enforcement and schools, Hilkey said.
On Tuesday, following the initial precautions at Columbine and elsewhere in Jefferson County, the Colorado Department of Education recommended all Denver-metro schools immediately conduct lockouts Tuesday afternoon and perform controlled releases of students.
Districts in Denver, Douglas County, Adams County and elsewhere placed some or all of their schools on lockout for the remainder of the afternoon. Schools across the metro area had additional police on hand when students were released, and some, such as those in Adams County School District 14, did not allow students who normally walk home to do so.
Pais was last seen in the Jefferson County foothills Monday night — and not Tuesday morning, as authorities initially had reported.
“Last night, Sol Pais traveled to Colorado and made threats in the Denver metropolitan area,” Jefferson County sheriff’s officials wrote on Facebook. “She is armed and considered to be extremely dangerous.”
A call to Pais’s parents in Surfside, Fla., on Tuesday afternoon was interrupted by a man who identified himself as an FBI agent who said he was interviewing them.
The Miami Herald reported that Pais lives in Surfside and that she was reported missing Monday night by her parents. A man who identified himself as Pais’s father told the Miami newspaper that he lost contact with his daughter on Sunday.
“I think maybe she’s got a mental problem,” he told the Herald. “I think she’s gonna be OK.”
Pais is described as a white female, approximately 5-feet, 5-inches tall, with brown hair. Sheriff’s officials said she was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots.
Anyone who sees her is asked to call 911, or call an FBI tip line at 303 630-6227. Tips can also be sent by email to denverfbitips@fbi.gov.
A bulletin sent to local police said authorities do not have probable cause to arrest Pais, but that she should be detained for a mental-health evaluation.
*BOLO* Sol PAIS, 18 yo, white/female, 5'5" brown hair. Considered ARMED & DANGEROUS. Wanted by @jeffcosheriffco and @FBIDenver for possible threat against #Columbine, other schools. DO NOT APPROACH. Call FBI: 303-630-6227. Please RT. pic.twitter.com/ejYNQHVlcZ
— Colorado State Patrol (@CSP_News) April 16, 2019
“Really makes you think”
Mike Taplin, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said about two dozen schools, including Columbine, were placed on lockout around 11 a.m. after the FBI notified Jeffco officials of their investigation into Pais.
The lockout — less serious than a lockdown, when teachers and students barricade themselves — was requested by law enforcement while police searched for a “suspicious person” in the area, Jeffco Public Schools spokeswoman Diana Wilson said.
Sheriff’s officials initially said only that they were investigating “what appears to be a credible threat possibly involving the schools.”
There was “no threat to a specific school,” Taplin said.
Jefferson County schools and those across the Denver area let their students out as planned, but with additional security and police on-site.
Ysenia Contreras has four kids at Beach Court Elementary School in Sunnyside.
“I’m worried,” she said while picking them up from school Tuesday. “It really makes you think about school safety.”
In Jeffco, after-school activities were canceled at Columbine, but not other schools.
Out of an abundance of caution, the @coemergency Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC) today issued an alert to Denver-metro schools about a credible threat being investigated by the @FBIDenver . Please follow your local school, the FBI, and @jeffcosheriffco for more info.
— CO Public Safety (@COPublicSafety) April 16, 2019
Schools will determine whether they need increased security Wednesday, Taplin said.
“Nothing different”
At Columbine, junior David Eaton said he was sitting in math class when the principal announced over the loudspeaker that the school was going to be going on lockout.
“My concern was I was in my math class for the second time during a lockout,” he said, referring to a threat in December that prompted Columbine to go on a more serious lockdown.
Teachers told students the lockout was due to police activity in the area, Eaton said. He didn’t think it was an immediate threat.
“I feel like if it was a shooting, I would have heard about it sooner,” he said. “Everyone’s OK — that’s a good thing.”
Stevie Spahn, a freshman at Columbine, said “it really was just another normal day, nothing different.”
In December, an anonymous caller claimed bombs had been planted inside Columbine High School. The threat, which was found to be a hoax, triggered an aggressive police response to ensure there was no danger to students at the school and more than 20 other Jeffco schools that were placed on lockout.
Denver Post Staff Writer Sam Tabachnik contributed to this report.
