Denver schools closed amid ‘massive manhunt’ for woman ‘infatuated’ with Columbine

Denver-area schools are closed on Wednesday as authorities have launched a manhunt for a woman they say is dangerous and has made “credible threats” days before the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.

Police are searching for 18-year-old Sol Pais, who allegedly traveled from Miami to Colorado because she is “infatuated” with the school shooting, USA Today reported.

“This has become a massive manhunt,” said Dean Phillips, head of the Denver office of the FBI, during a Tuesday news conference.

{mosads}Authorities described her as “armed” and “extremely dangerous” and said she flew from Florida on Monday night.

Shortly after landing in Denver, Pais purchased a pump-action shotgun and ammunition, Phillips said.

She was reportedly last seen in the foothills of Jefferson County, west of Denver, wearing a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots, authorities said.

Please call the FBI tipline at (303) 630-6227 where your call will be answered immediately if you have seen this individual or have information on her whereabouts. Please do not approach her as she is considered armed and dangerous 3/3 pic.twitter.com/sybtMRzG80

— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) April 16, 2019

“Because of her comments and her actions, because of her travel here to the state, because of her procurement of a weapon immediately upon arriving here,” Phillips said, “we consider her to be a credible threat — certainly to the community and, potentially, to schools.”

Because the threat was “not isolated to one school or individual,” more than a dozen schools were placed on lockdown Tuesday and subsequently closed on Wednesday.

The Washington Post reported that Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek Schools have not opened, as well as Jefferson County Public Schools, which includes Columbine High School.

All classes, activities and athletics have been canceled “due to the ongoing safety concern,” and employees were instructed on Columbine’s website not to report to work.

The reported threats come just days before the 20th anniversary of the infamous shooting at the high school, now the 12th deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. 

On April 20, 1999, 12 students and one teacher at Columbine were killed by two students who later killed themselves. Dozens more students were injured.

“It’s certainly not the first threat we’ve had that involves Columbine High School,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader said at the briefing. “I know that this opens a wound, especially on an anniversary week, for those families that were most deeply impacted by this.”

Tuesday’s lockdown also came on the 12th anniversary of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, in which 32 people were killed.