‘It was definitely targeted’; Colorado City officials investigate bullet holes in high school exterior

ST. GEORGE — Officials are investigating an incident that led to the discovery of bullet holes in the side of El Capitan High School in Arizona last week.

Bullet holes found in El Capitan High School, Colorado City, Arizona, Nov. 18, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Trudy Blackmore, St. George News

Colorado City Marshals Sgt. Mark Gower told St. George News that officials believe the incident occurred between 6 p.m. Thursday evening and time of reporting Friday morning.

Video surveillance is still being processed; however, Gower said the school might not have caught the incident on camera. Officials have interviewed a witness to the incident who reported hearing the shots from a distance.

Officers have discovered the caliber of the weapon involved but are not releasing this information to the public at this time.

“It was definitely targeted, intentional, just based off of our investigation and eye witness,” he said.

Bullet holes found in El Capitan High School, Colorado City, Arizona, Nov. 18, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Trudy Blackmore, St. George News

Trudy Blackmore, whose sister discovered the bullet holes, told St. George News there is a shooting range past the school people use for target practice, although she has never heard of bullets escaping the range and hitting nearby buildings.

Gower said any individuals involved could be facing very serious charges, especially knowing that they would not have been able to confirm if anyone was remaining inside the school when 15 to 20 rounds were fired through the exterior wall.

Blackmore believes the shooting could be involved in a religious feud between children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Instances of violence have occurred in the past, she said, due to different religious beliefs.

“At this time, we have not determined that that’s the actual reason for it, but we’re not ruling anything out at this point,” Gower said.

The Colorado City United School District alerted parents to the situation via text and email Monday afternoon.

If anyone has additional information on the incident, Gower urges residents to reach out and provide details to officials at 435-875-2646; officials are offering anonymity to potential witnesses.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

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