Enough Is Enough
East Students Rally After Gun Violence And Ongoing Threats At Denver’s Largest High School
By Cara DeGette
GPHN Editor
Saying it’s been a hard year at East High School is an understatement. Students and faculty have endured threats of violence, resulting in school lockdowns, until they have become nearly routine.
On Feb. 13, Luis Garcia, a junior and varsity soccer player at the school, was shot while he was sitting in his car on the Esplanade. Two weeks and two days later the 16-year old was taken off life support. The day Garcia died, hundreds of his grieving classmates walked out of school and marched the 1.5 miles to the Colorado capitol. There, they rallied and demanded Colorado legislators pass laws to help stop gun violence.
A week later, on March 22, Austin Lyle, a 17-year old East student, shot and seriously wounded two school administrators as he was being patted down. Lyle fled to the mountains, where he died by suicide.
Officials later confirmed that daily pat-downs at school had been a requirement for Lyle, who had been on probation for a prior weapons charge. That stunning revelation unleashed a fresh chorus of anger from teachers, students and parents who were unaware of the DPS protocol.
After the second shootings, students again descended on the capitol, joined by teachers and supporters from other Denver Public Schools, demanding tougher gun laws and calling on district officials to enact policies to protect them from violence.
At the end of March, the Democratic-controlled legislature passed a package of gun safety laws, including raising the age limit to 21 for all firearms purchases, expanding Colorado’s red-flag law, and making it easier to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers.
With a population of 2,579 students, East is the largest high school in DPS and is home to many Park Hill students. These photos from the March 1 rally were taken by Evan Semón.
