Gunman possibly seen earlier

Julie Poppen And Marilyn Robinson, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 2, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

BAILEY - The gunman who terrorized Platte Canyon High School on Wednesday, killing a 16-year-old hostage, may have been trolling the school parking lot as many as 24 hours before the rampage began, two law enforcement officials said Sunday.

Investigators have a "strong suspicion" Duane Morrison was in the parking lot Tuesday, one of the sources said. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

It was unclear whether the 53-year-old loner entered the school that day, how long he remained in the lot or whether anyone challenged him.

The following morning, Morrison seized the school by gunpoint, holding six young girls hostage and sexually molesting them.

During a four-hour standoff that ended when SWAT officers stormed the classroom where Morrison was holding the girls, he released four of the hostages.

The gunman shot 16-year-old Emily Keyes - one of the two remaining hostages - in the back of the head as she tried to escape. He then killed himself, sheriff's officials said.

Morrison was armed with a .357-caliber Magnum revolver and a Glock semiautomatic pistol.

Police also found an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle at a makeshift riverside campsite about a mile north of the school. Morrison had been living out of his Jeep at the campground and investigators have determined the weapon belonged to one of Morrison's relatives.

On Sunday, law enforcement officials said agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are trying to determine whether two other weapons can be linked to the shooter.

One, another rifle, was found Friday not far from where the first rifle was recovered. The second, a .44-caliber revolver, was found Saturday along a trail in nearby Shawnee.

As the investigation continued over the weekend, a still-numb student body and community was preparing to resume normal schedules.

School officials announced Sunday that Platte Canyon High School and Fitzsimmons Middle School staff will return to school without students today and Tuesday.

The district plans to close Deer Creek Elementary on Wednesday to give parents and students of the middle and high schools the opportunity to come together. Families are invited to return to the schools from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. to talk with teachers, get new room assignments and pick up belongings left during the rapid evacuation of the school Wednesday.

Last week, students were in shock and needed to share the raw physical details of their experiences, said Jay Vonesh, youth pastor at Platte Canyon Community Church.

"This week, they start asking, 'Why?' " Vonesh said.

Troy Phillips, 35, former track and cross-country coach at the high school and member of the Platte Canyon Community Church, urged parishioners to support students as they return to competitive sports.

"The sheer presence of being together, I can't overemphasize (the importance of) that," Phillips said.

High school and middle school sports will resume today in the East building complex and on the fields. The high school will host a home football game Tuesday afternoon.

Sunday morning, residents showed up at community churches with pink ribbons reading, "Random acts of kindness for Emily," pinned to their chests.

As they prayed, they bowed their heads for the Keyes' family, for the hostages and their families, for others who witnessed the horror, and for those plagued by guilt because they couldn't stop it.

Investigators with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation are still poring over a 14-page letter Morrison sent the morning of the shooting to his siblings.

The letter, unopened by relatives, referenced suicide and Morrison's pending death many times. It also addressed the difficult relationship Morrison had with his father.

In the letter, Morrison apologized to his family for something he was about to do, but there was no mention of Bailey, any of the victims or Platte Canyon High School, Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said.

Parts of the letter read like a will, with Morrison detailing how he wanted his belongings distributed. He also said he wanted to be cremated, according to a law enforcement source who saw the letter.

The CBI, which is heading the investigation, also is reviewing surveillance tapes from the school.

"We're putting together a timeline," said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, which includes CBI. "The building doesn't have an extraordinary number of cameras but enough to help us piece together a timeline."

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News