Heavy police presence in Denver neighborhood near East High School after shooting

Mar. 23—Congress Park residents of a block where Denver Police descended around the time of the East High School shooting Wednesday morning described the area as calm and unassuming, so they were startled to see the heavy police presence.

Barely half a mile south of the school, the area on Elizabeth Street sits near a commercial stretch of 12th Avenue that has restaurants, a post office, coffee shop and laundromat.

Marty Schwarz, who lives on one corner where police swarmed, said their presence Wednesday is unusual for the area. He moved to the neighborhood last August and described it as quiet.

Even so, he said, "I don't think shootings are the type of thing you can ever be sure you're free of."

A few hours after the shooting, police identified 17-year-old Austin Lyle as the suspected gunman who injured two school administrators. Police Chief Ron Thomas said in a news conference police believe he opened fire as the employees checked him for weapons before he went into the school, part of a security protocol he underwent each day.

Lyle's body was found in Park County Wednesday night, a spokesperson for the county confirmed. The two school administrators have survived and one is out of the hospital.

A Denver police officer at the scene refused to confirm to the Denver Gazette whether their presence in the residential area was related to the school shooting. Patrol cars had both sides of Elizabeth blocked off between 10th and 11th avenues. They were letting residents leave by backing the patrol car up, then re-blocking the street.

However, the shooting happened shortly before 10 a.m., according to police, and some residents of the area remember first seeing law enforcement around 10:30 a.m. Chief Ron Thomas confirmed in a news conference late Wednesday morning the department knew the suspected shooter's name and where he lived. Police executed a warrant at his home, Thomas said.

The department has declined to release any search warrants stemming from the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation. The same is true for the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office — as Lyle was expelled from Overland High School in Aurora and likely lived there.

"According to our Juvenile Justice Chief, all records concerning this defendant are not releasable under Colorado Statute, with the exception of juvenile cases that are transferred or filed into adult court," said spokesman Eric Ross via email.

Lyle was reportedly on probation at the time for a previous firearms offense, Reuters confirmed through a source with knowledge of the case.

Lyle was charged in late 2021 with possessing a dangerous weapon and possessing a large-capacity ammunition magazine after an arrest in Aurora.

In November of 2022, according to the Reuters source, Lyle was sentenced to 12 months of probation for the large-magazine possession charge, while the dangerous weapon charge was dismissed.

As a condition for enrolling Lyle in East High School, a special "safety plan" was implemented requiring him to submit to a search of his person for weapons each day upon entering the building, a pat-down to be conducted by school administrators.

Congress Park resident Andrew Erhart first noticed police on his street between 10 and 10:30 a.m., he estimated. He saw an alley across from his house on 11th Avenue blocked off, and said there were a lot of police on the road between Elizabeth and Clayton Streets.

"They were here for probably three or four hours. That's how I found out about the shooting," he said. Erhart added he saw the news when he went on the Reddit page dedicated to Denver after he saw the police presence outside his window and wondered what was happening.

The Denver Gazette has not been able to independently confirm whether the alleged shooter lived in an apartment building pointed out by a few residents of the area as his home, near the corner of Elizabeth Street and 11th Avenue.

One longtime resident of the neighborhood, Mark Brooks, said he didn't recall ever seeing Lyle when he heard news of the shooting because a lot of high school students seem to live in the area, given its proximity to Denver East. Lyle wouldn't have stood out, he said.

"It's not like he'd be the one high school kid walking around. There were so many of them."

Little information has emerged about Lyle since Wednesday. But a few posts materialized on Facebook from people who appear to have known him, along with photos purportedly featuring Lyle. The incident sparked debate on social media vacillating between sympathy for Lyle and condemnation of his actions.

"I'm at a loss for words right now. We knew who you really were and we know the real story. I'm sorry this happened to you. Sending light and love to the Lyle family tonight. Rest in peace Austin," one woman shared alongside a photo of a boy — several years younger than Lyle in the present day — holding a fish by a body of water in the woods.

"Rest in peace Austin. No matter what he was a great kid in our eyes, and great friend to my Son and his team mates (sic). You will be missed. My condolences to the Lyle family," wrote another woman alongside a photo of a group of children holding trophies and wearing maroon T-shirts that read "Aurora."