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DENVER – Hundreds of schools in the Denver area were closed on Wednesday as law enforcement officers were looking for a Florida woman who allegedly made threats before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. She was considered armed and "extremely dangerous".
The decision to keep about half a million students at home in two dozen school districts across a vast expanse of Colorado has shown the authorities' sense of anxiety. A F.B.I. A bulletin sent Tuesday to local law enforcement identified the woman as Sol Pais, 18 years old. She was "infatuated" with the Columbine attack, the bulletin said. She had bought a shotgun and ammunition.
School principals from across the Denver area decided Tuesday night at a teleconference to jointly close schools Wednesday morning as a precaution, the Denver Post announced.
Ms. Pais is approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and has brown hair. She wears a black t-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots, the authorities said. She recently visited Colorado, law enforcement officials said. A F.B.I. An official expressed concerns about his mental stability.
Ms. Pais' parents reported her disappearance to the local police on Monday, Detective Sergeant Marian Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Surfside Police Department, said Wednesday. This is the only time the police have been called to the address of the family, she added.
Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, confirmed Wednesday that Ms. Pais was a student at Miami Beach High School. The school district assists the F.B.I. with his investigation, Ms. Gonzalez-Diego said.
In a press conference Tuesday evening, Dean Phillips, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Denver, said the research had turned into a "massive human hunt". Phillips said his team received a tip from the federal government. agents in Miami identifying Ms. Pais as a possible threat in Colorado.
The F.B.I. then discovered that Mrs. Pais had arrived at the Denver Airport before buying a shotgun and ammo at a store. "She was then taken to an area where she was last seen in the hills," Phillips said.
"His comments, his actions that others have spoken to us tend to worry that it could pose a threat to a school," he added.
If authorities find Ms. Pais, it is not clear if they can stop her. The bulletin sent to the local police indicated that they did not have a probable reason for arrest, but that the police should detain her "and assess her state of mental health".
The state also introduced important firearms control measures in 2013 that broaden background checks, but Colorado does not have a specific waiting time for potential arms buyers, even though are teenagers and have just got off a Miami plane.
In Florida, the Miami Herald reported that a man who opened the door on Tuesday at Mrs. Pais' address identified herself as her father and said he lost contact with her on Sunday. "I think she may have a mental problem," he told the Herald. "I think she's going to be O.K."
In Colorado, this announcement has resulted in "lockouts" or enhanced security measures in schools in Jefferson County and surrounding areas. During a lockout, all exterior doors are locked in a school, but business continues as usual inside. The police helped release students late in the day. County officials said all students and staff members were safe.
This was not the first threat to Columbine High School students. In December, an anonymous caller claimed that bombs had been laid inside the school. The police reacted, but the threat turned out to be a hoax.
In the shootout at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, two students shot dead 12 of their classmates and one teacher.
The rest of the shoot was widely televised and the event became an inspiration for future attackers. Jefferson County, home of Columbine High School, has spent the last 20 years fighting this legacy.
Students, teachers, families, and law enforcement officers had to deal with not only the emotional trauma of the shooting, but also the people who had become obsessed with it, as well as the imitators who perpetrated their attacks. own attacks.
In an interview last year, John McDonald, safety officer for Jefferson County Schools, said he had often apprehended people from across the country trying to break into the community. school, a major security problem. These visits – and interest in filming – have only increased over time, he said, "I've been dealing with this problem for over a decade and the problem has never been as serious as it is today, 20 years later. "
The approaching anniversary put a lot of people in the area on their nerves, and last week the county set up lockouts over several days.
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