Roughly eight months after a shooting at Evergreen High School that left two students critically wounded and the shooter dead, a report released this week offered clues into the latter’s frame of mind and shed light on possible motives.

Authorities have yet to establish a definitive motive in the shooting.

Desmond Holly, 16, entered the school on Sept. 10 armed with a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver and opened fire around lunchtime.

A 664-page report by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on the shooting, obtained by The Denver Gazette, painted a chaotic picture of that day, while also providing possible insights into Holly’s mental state.

The report offered more details about the shooting:

• Students and teachers told investigators they first heard gunshots around 12:30 p.m. that Wednesday, which sent the entire school into a panic. Multiple reports from witnesses said students were heard shouting variations of “school shooter” or “he has a gun,” as they ran and hid while the school went into lockdown.

• Holly first opened fire inside the boys’ bathroom and shot the first victim, who has yet to be publicly identified, as the victim was walking down a set of stairs. He was able to run away and left the school to get medical attention. In a statement, the victim’s family said he and a friend confronted Holly and later warned others about the shooting prior to the lockdown being announced.

• Holly then wandered the halls of the school, firing more shots at teachers and students but missing. He left the building and attempted to gain access to other buildings, but they were locked.

• He left the school grounds, where he confronted Matthew Silverstone and shot him twice. 

• Holly, while in a neighborhood near the school, was confronted by a school resource officer and two sheriff’s deputies, who ordered him to put down his gun. Holly initially said he would, but then shot himself in the head, according to the report. He was pronounced dead later that day.

The report said Holly fired a total of 19 shots out of the 50 he had brought to school. Both boys who were shot survived but will likely face lifelong injuries, according to authorities.

Possible motives

Holly reportedly held racist and antisemitic beliefs. Some told the police they suspected he might have been targeting the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, while a family member told authorities he had said he was attracted to men.

After the shooting, the police said Holly had been “radicalized” by an extremist network, and the report said he had social media accounts expressing racist ideology. The FBI reportedly investigated Holly’s X account prior to the shooting but failed to identify him.

A friend of Holly’s told police that Holly was “pretty racist” and believed in “blood libel,” a centuries-old antisemitic accusation.

In an interview with the police, Holly’s sister said her family has some Jewish ancestry, which Holly was aware of. She said she was shocked to hear of his reported racism and antisemitism. She said he had used derogatory language toward women in the past.

Investigators searched the Holly family house, including Desmond Holly’s bedroom. Inside, police found a knife with Nazi markings on it and writings that expressed antisemitic beliefs. Police also found drawings of SS symbols and swastikas and men dressed in tactical gear and holding rifles, as well as black tactical facemasks with Nazi symbols and messages referencing the 2022 Buffalo shooting.

Holly also reportedly had videos on his phone of past school shootings set to music. Another friend of Holly’s told police Holly had gotten in trouble in middle school for looking up guns on a school computer.

Multiple students who are members of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance told police they believed Holly might have been targeting the group. The shooting first began near the room where the group was meeting, and several students in the group reported that Holly yelled homophobic slurs and fired shots at them as they were attempting to hide.

Holly’s sister said he had been a member of the the group when he was in middle school, but that the group fell apart for unknown reasons.

She also told police that Holly had told her in the past that he was attracted to men and at one point had a boyfriend. A friend of Holly’s also told police that other students would tease Holly and call him gay as a joke, though the friend said he did not think Holly was actually gay.

A loner

Holly’s family told police they were shocked to learn he was the shooter, and described him to police as a loving son who appreciated art and other creative outlets.

Family members noted he had become more withdrawn as of late. They also said they were unaware of him harming himself. During an autopsy, scars and cut marks were found on his forearm and wrist. Holly’s sister told police she had noticed he had started wearing long-sleeve shirts in the past few years.

Teachers and students who had classes with Holly described him to investigators as quiet and a loner. One teacher, who said she had a good relationship with Holly, told police he was much more withdrawn and quiet than other students, often did not do any work in class, and had failing grades. Another teacher told police that Holly rarely interacted with other students in class.

Others who knew Holly told police he had little interest in school. 

On the day of the shooting everything appeared to be normal, several classmates of Holly’s and his teachers said. A friend said they talked about normal stuff on the morning of the shooting. A teacher said Holly participated in a game in class. Nothing seemed to be amiss.

While Holly’s family owned guns, his father told police the guns were stored in a safe that Holly did not know the combination to. It is unknown how he got access to the revolver used in the shooting.

A lawyer for the family told police it was stored in the safe. Holly’s parents were ultimately not charged with a crime in connection with the shooting.

Denver Gazette reporter Sage Kelley contributed to this report.