Author: Valerie Richardson / Source: The Washington Times
DENVER — Add the brief but tragic odyssey of Sol Pais to the story of Columbine High School as Colorado prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the infamous school shooting.
The 18-year-old Miami teen was found dead Wednesday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the foothills of the Rockies after having flown Monday to Denver and purchasing a shotgun in what authorities described as a “pilgrimage” to Columbine.
The FBI and local law enforcement discovered her body after an intensive search and classroom closures involving 19 school districts, dozens of private schools, and a half-million students stretching across the Front Range from Boulder to Denver to Castle Rock.
John McDonald, who’s in charge of security at Columbine as Jefferson County Schools executive director of school safety, defended the decision to shut down the state’s second-largest school district over the threat posed by a Florida teen with a Columbine obsession.
“We’re used to threats frankly at Columbine. This one felt different,” Mr. McDonald said at a press conference. “It was different. And it certainly had our attention.”
FBI special agent in charge Dean Phillips said Ms. Pais was viewed as a “credible threat” based on her “very unusual” behavior. For one, she purchased three one-way tickets scheduled for three consecutive days to Denver.
After arriving, she took a ride-share car to buy a pump-action shotgun and ammunition in Littleton, two miles from Columbine, before being dropped off in the Jefferson County foothills region.
Her body was found early Wednesday by law enforcement search teams…
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