Kendrick Castillo was the 18-year-old sole victim of the May 7 Colorado school shooting. He died while trying to tackle one of the shooters.…
Kendrick Castillo was the 18-year-old sole victim of the May 7 Colorado school shooting. He died while trying to tackle one of the shooters.
The attackers were identified by law enforcement officials as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and 16-year-old Maya McKinney, also known as Alec. The two allegedly walked into the STEM School Highlands Ranch, a charter school outside of Denver, through an entrance without metal detectors and opened fire in two classrooms.
One classmate, Nui Giasolli, described the scene in her British literature class just before 2 p.m. local time. Her classmate Devon Erickson had arrived late to class.
“The shooter came in late. He walked to the other side of the classroom, where we also had another door. And he opened the door. He walked back as if he was going back to his seat,” Giasolli told NBC’s Today show. “Then he walked back to the door and he closed it. The next thing I know, he’s pulling a gun and he’s telling nobody to move.”
“And that’s when Kendrick lunged at him, and he shot Kendrick, giving all of us enough time to get underneath our desks to get ourselves safe and to run across the room to escape.”
Kendrick did not survive. He had three days of school left before his scheduled graduation day on May 20.
Kendrick’s father, John Castillo, told The Denver Post that he was the “best kid in the world.
