Denver school shooting suspect was on probation for weapons charge: report

The teenage student suspected of fatally shooting two administrators inside his Denver high school was previously arrested for possessing a phantom gun and remained on probation in connection with the 2021 incident, according to reports.

Austin Lyle allegedly shot and wounded two deans at East High School on Wednesday morning. His body was found hours later in a remote mountainous area in Park County, about 50 miles southwest of Denver, near the small town of Bailey, police said.

About two years before the shooting, Lyle was arrested on a weapons charge after classmates flagged posts about weapons on the teen’s social media, law enforcement sources told CBS Colorado. In response, Aurora Police Department officers searched Lyle’s family home, where they discovered a rifle with a “high-capacity magazine and silencer” in his bedroom.

The firearm also had its serial number on file, the sources said.

It is illegal for a minor to possess a weapon in Colorado, and a judge later placed Lyle on probation, which was reportedly still in effect this week.

The teen was attending Overland High School in Aurora at the time of his arrest. Lyle was “disciplined for violating board policy” during the 2021-2022 school year and consequently “removed from Overland High School,” a representative for the Cherry Creek School District told NBC News.

It is unclear if his expulsion was related to his weapons charge.

Lyle then enrolled in East High School, where he was forced to adhere to a “safety plan” with requirements that included being frisked every morning. He opened fire on two school employees, both men, during the ordered search Wednesday, then fled the scene.

One of the victims was listed in stable condition on Friday, while the other has already been released from the hospital.