Investigators say evidence insufficient to charge parents of Evergreen High School shooter

Jefferson County investigators said Wednesday their five-month investigation determined there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges against the parents of the teenager who shot two students and killed himself at Evergreen High School last year.

The shooting occurred on Sept. 10, 2025, at Evergreen High School. The sheriff's office identified the shooter as 16-year-old Desmond Holly. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two students who were shot both suffered critical injuries that required extended hospital stays.

The formal investigation concluded on Wednesday, with the sheriff's office saying they believe the gun the shooter used was a 50-year-old revolver the parents considered a family heirloom. According to the sheriff's office, the parents informed investigators that the gun was kept in a locked safe that the teen had limited access to.

"The JCSO acknowledges that this was not the outcome many in our community hoped for," the sheriff's office said in a statement on Wednesday. "In the wake of this tragic event, we remained fully committed to conducting a thorough and impartial investigation, guided by the facts and the law. While not every investigation results in additional charges, our focus has always been on pursuing the truth and accountability wherever it could be legally established."

The gun, according to investigators, was a Smith & Wesson .38 Special Revolver originally purchased in Florida in 1966. The trail of ownership was difficult to determine after the original owner died. The sheriff's office said the FBI and ATF assisted in trying to track the ownership of the gun.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office stated that, "Investigators were unable to speak with the shooter's parents, which complicated efforts to determine how the shooter gained access to the firearm and to confirm its ownership history. This was one of the primary challenges encountered during the investigation."

DNA tests were conducted on the gun and found no traces of the parents' DNA on it, but the family's attorney sent a letter to the sheriff's office on Jan. 23, saying the gun was owned by one of the teen's grandparents, officials said on Wednesday.

"According to the letter, the shooter did not have access to the safe, except for brief moments when it was opened by his father," the sheriff's office stated.

Investigators tried to establish evidence sufficient to charge the parents with providing a firearm to a juvenile or violations of Colorado's secure firearms storage law, but say they were unable to find sufficient evidence.

"This case will be closed, pending the emergence of new evidence that would warrant the filing of charges," the sheriff's office said. "We recognize the deep pain this tragedy continues to cause, and we share the community's sorrow."

The day after the shooting, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said that the shooter was "radicalized by some extremist network, and the details of that will be down the road."

A report released by the Anti-Defamation League after the shooting included details about that alleged radicalization, saying he was active on a so-called "violent gore" website months before the attack. In a now-deleted TikTok post that contained references to a 2019 mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, he engaged with a comment encouraging him to "make a move," the ADL said at the time.

Five days after the shooting, the FBI confirmed that two months before the shooting, the bureau received a tip about a social media account that was later connected to the shooter.

The completion of the case pending the emergence of new evidence, announced on Wednesday, moves the school and community into yet another phase of the aftermath of the shooting.

"I think the investigation is going to draw out the emotions from September 10th. People are going to relive the experiences. Certainly, as maybe video comes out. I know that other things may come out that may be very, very difficult for our kids, our teachers, and administrators to go through," said Pastor Jason Freeman of Bergen Park Church, who says he prefers to be identified as an Evergreen High parent. "And what the community needs to do together is less evaluation and what led to it, and more, how can we come alongside each other. How can we care for each other?" added Pastor Freeman.

Freeman and others were involved in a community gathering soon after the September shooting as people joined in common grief. The church is among those in Evergreen continuing to provide support. There is a lot still to figure out in how to get through the shooting and its aftermath. Pastor Freeman believes that people getting to know each other and their situations can help.

"There's going to be some strategies that the school can try to put in place for the benefit of our kids, and I think that's good and great. But in the end, if we're not building relationships, if we're not trying to tear down the divisions that we have between each other. If we're not trying to discover what are the differences and the difficulties that others are going to step into that space with each other and actually get to know each other… Actually entering into their lives and caring for them is going to help us work through the trauma of September 10th and also move forward in a way that I think builds a better Evergreen."

John and April Pearson were also involved in community efforts to help. They put together a musical benefit, printed t-shirts of support, and combined efforts with organizers of a local event called Boogie at the Barn to make donations.

"It was overwhelming, I mean, we work for a pediatric office and we see kids and we see these kids regularly," said April Pearson. "It's not going to define us. We're still going to keep moving forward. We're going to be strong. We're stronger than we thought we had to be."

The shooting and its victims with physical and emotional injuries are still on the minds of students, parents and teachers.

"The best we can do is as a church, as a community, as parents, as students is to care for those who are in the midst of walking though this wherever they are. Because everyone's going to experience this in a different way, said Pastor Freeman. "There's no one way to grieve, there's no one way to go through the pain and the fear that comes from going through something like this. But what we can do is pay attention to each other."

Mental health resources have been made available to students and others impacted by the shooting in the months since.

The Evergreen Resiliency Center is located at 5120 CO Road 73 in Evergreen. It's open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can call 720-362-2925 or email admin.erc@victimoutreach.org.

Additional resources are available online at massviolence.help/evergreen-co.