Crime and Extremism

Colorado’s Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says it will not pursue gun-related charges against the parents of 16‑year‑old Desmond Holly, who wounded two students and then killed himself in a Sept. 10, 2025 shooting at Evergreen High School west of Denver, concluding there is insufficient evidence they improperly stored the family revolver. Investigators found the Smith & Wesson .38 Special used in the attack was kept in a locked safe, said Holly did not have regular access to it, and noted DNA tests did not link either parent to recent handling of the weapon. Authorities also reiterated that the attack appears to have been random and that Holly, who died of a self‑inflicted gunshot, was not tied to a specific extremist group but had immersed himself in online content glorifying prior school shooters, including Columbine, whose campus sits in the same county. The Anti‑Defamation League’s Center on Extremism reviewed his online activity and reported a fixation on mass shootings and violent material rather than a coherent ideology. The decision not to charge the parents will feed into a broader national argument over when and how prosecutors should hold adults criminally liable for youth gun violence, especially in states where safe‑storage laws leave wide discretion for law enforcement.