April 17 (UPI) — An intensive manhunt ended Wednesday when authorities say they found the body of a woman wanted for making threats against Denver-area schools.The FBI was searching for Sol Pais, 18, in connection with the threats.
Several schools were closed Wednesday as a precaution. Investigators said they were concerned because she was “infatuated” with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting attack and had bought a shotgun when she arrived in Colorado from her Miami-area home.
“The FBI just confirmed that they have found Ms. Pais deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Schrader said in a news conference. She was found during an intense manhunt near Mount Evans.
“There is no longer a threat to the community,” the FBI Denver field office tweeted earlier.
The FBI on Tuesday said Pais was “extremely dangerous” and had made threats to “commit an act of violence in the Denver metropolitan area.” School officials said Columbine receives threats but this one appeared different and credible.
“The fascination with Columbine, where she purchased the weapon, the fact that she made the journey here,” said John McDonald, executive director of Jefferson County Department of Public Safety. “It is constant communication back and forth looking at what the threat is. We had good mission partners that were looking at our whole school safety program.”
Supt. Jason Glass said they will have mental health professionals in the district to help students and staff near the anniversary of the Columbine massacre.
Former Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis said he saw the lockdown in person at the Littleton campus Tuesday.
“It was like clockwork. I was there the entire time. That is so much more reassuring than where we were 20 years ago,” DeAngelis said.
School officials warned people who are fascinated by the 1999 shooting not to come to the school, emphasizing that it’s not a tourist attraction.
The Colorado Department of Higher Education praised the FBI for ending the threat.
“Thank you to our higher ed institutions and law enforcement partners for protecting our students and campuses today,” the Department of Higher Education tweeted.
