XPost: alt.politics.liberalism, alt.politics.media, misc.survivalism   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: smcguire@aol.com   
      
   CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) - A student who walked into his suburban   
   Denver high school with a shotgun looking for a specific teacher   
   was a skilled debater with strong political views who recently   
   was kicked off the speech and debate team, according to students   
   and a teacher.   
      
   Karl Pierson, 18, critically wounded a student before apparently   
   killing himself Friday at Arapahoe High School as police moved   
   in. His body was found about a half-hour after the shooting was   
   reported.   
      
   Steve Miles, an English teacher who taught Pierson as a   
   freshman, said Saturday that the school librarian who ran the   
   speech team cut Pierson from the team, but he didn't know why.   
      
   "I think he (Pierson) really cultivated his speech and argument   
   skills and really thought that was a big part of his identity.   
   ... He probably thought it was a pretty crushing blow to get   
   kicked off the debate team," Miles said.   
      
   It's unclear whether the librarian was the person Pierson was   
   searching for when he entered the school with a gun. Authorities   
   haven't identified Pierson's target, but students say the   
   librarian was the one he was seeking. Sheriff Grayson Robinson   
   has described the target as a teacher.   
      
   "Our initial investigation is causing us to believe that this   
   shooting was the result of revenge on the part of the shooter   
   because of a confrontation or a disagreement between the shooter   
   and the teacher," Robinson said.   
      
   Senior Dillon Johnson, 17, said he thinks that when Pierson lost   
   his platform to share his passionate views through the debate   
   team, it "set him off."   
      
   Students described Pierson as an outspoken, sometimes goofy and   
   smart student who often would talk about his beliefs during   
   class, sometimes even debating his teachers. They also said he   
   was an Eagle Scout who finished at the top of speech   
   competitions.   
      
   Pierson competed in extemporaneous speaking -- in which students   
   prepare short speeches on current events -- in the National   
   Forensic League's national tournament in June in Birmingham,   
   Ala. He didn't advance to the elimination rounds, the league   
   said.   
      
   This year's yearbook also listed him as being a member of the   
   cross-country team.   
      
   Students said Pierson held communist views and liked to discuss   
   current events and issues, offering his own solutions. None said   
   Pierson was bullied for his beliefs.   
      
   "He would speak for himself. He would not be afraid to tell   
   someone how he feels," said Zach Runberg, 18, a fellow senior   
   who had an English class with Pierson.   
      
   "People would talk to him, nice conversations," Runberg. "He's a   
   nice, funny kid. He had some good, intelligent jokes."   
      
   The investigation unfolded as students raised money to pay for   
   the medical care of the wounded student. She hasn't been   
   identified, but friends posted prayers and comments for her on   
   Twitter under (hash)prayforClaire.   
      
   A fundraising poster was set up on a fence at the school as   
   students returned to pick up their cars left behind during the   
   shooting.   
      
   Senior Chris Davis said he helped organize the effort in hopes   
   of helping his classmates and the larger community heal. The   
   poster read "Warriors always take care of one another," an   
   unofficial school saying often referenced during morning   
   announcements. Many students also posted the motto on social   
   media pages.   
      
   "I feel like it's going to make us a stronger senior class and   
   school as a whole," Davis said. "Everyone went through it, and   
   we all know people experienced it in their own way, and we just   
   need to be there for everybody."   
      
   Davis, whose locker is right next to the victim's, described her   
   as someone who loves horses, has a lot of friends and always   
   seems happy. He planned to visit her at the hospital Saturday   
   night.   
      
   Pierson, whose parents were divorced, lived at least part of the   
   time with his mother in a higher-end neighborhood in suburban   
   Highlands Ranch. The home and others have three-car garages, and   
   a country club is nearby. The front door of the home was covered   
   with plywood Saturday after authorities conducted a search   
   overnight.   
      
   Challon Winer, who lives across the street from Pierson's home,   
   said he often would see the teen mowing the lawn or shoveling   
   snow from the driveway.   
      
   "I noticed that he didn't look extremely happy, but he was a   
   teenager," subject to the normal moods of that age group, Winer   
   said.   
      
   In recent days the teen's schedule appeared to change, and he   
   left the house a little later than usual, Winer said.   
      
   Winer said Pierson's mother, Barbara Pierson, has worked with   
   the Neighborhood Watch group and sometimes sent emails reminding   
   residents about safety precautions. "She seemed aware of what   
   was going on," Winer said.   
      
   He said he had occasional neighborly chats with Barbara Pierson   
   but didn't know the family well.   
      
   Following the shooting, authorities evacuated hundreds of   
   students in an orderly procession -- a demonstration of   
   aggressive security measures developed by police and schools   
   following the 1999 shooting at Columbine, some 8 miles west of   
   Arapahoe High.   
      
   After that tragedy, police   
   CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) - A student who walked into his suburban   
   Denver high school with a shotgun looking for a specific teacher   
   was a skilled debater with strong political views who recently   
   was kicked off the speech and debate team, according to students   
   and a teacher.   
      
   Karl Pierson, 18, critically wounded a student before apparently   
   killing himself Friday at Arapahoe High School as police moved   
   in. His body was found about a half-hour after the shooting was   
   reported.   
      
   Steve Miles, an English teacher who taught Pierson as a   
   freshman, said Saturday that the school librarian who ran the   
   speech team cut Pierson from the team, but he didn't know why.   
      
   "I think he (Pierson) really cultivated his speech and argument   
   skills and really thought that was a big part of his identity.   
   ... He probably thought it was a pretty crushing blow to get   
   kicked off the debate team," Miles said.   
      
   It's unclear whether the librarian was the person Pierson was   
   searching for when he entered the school with a gun. Authorities   
   haven't identified Pierson's target, but students say the   
   librarian was the one he was seeking. Sheriff Grayson Robinson   
   has described the target as a teacher.   
      
   "Our initial investigation is causing us to believe that this   
   shooting was the result of revenge on the part of the shooter   
   because of a confrontation or a disagreement between the shooter   
   and the teacher," Robinson said.   
      
   Senior Dillon Johnson, 17, said he thinks that when Pierson lost   
   his platform to share his passionate views through the debate   
   team, it "set him off."   
      
   Students described Pierson as an outspoken, sometimes goofy and   
   smart student who often would talk about his beliefs during   
   class, sometimes even debating his teachers. They also said he   
   was an Eagle Scout who finished at the top of speech   
      
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