The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office completed the investigation into the Evergreen High School shooting that shocked the county — and country — five months ago.

Following the investigation, the parents of the shooter, 16-year-old Desmond Holly, won’t face charges regarding the gun Holly used, according to a Wednesday news release.

The sheriff’s office is still unaware of Holly’s overall motives in the shooting.

“Because he is deceased, so many of the questions we have, we may not ever get an answer to,” Jacki Kelley, spokesperson with the department, told The Denver Gazette on Thursday.

Holly entered the high school with a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 Special Revolver around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 10, fired multiple rounds and reloaded “a lot” of times before eventually critically injuring a 14-year-old boy and 18-year-old Matthew Silverstone before taking his own life.

Both of the victims were eventually released from the hospital with lifelong injuries.

The day after the shooting, the sheriff’s office claimed that Holly had been  “radicalized by some extremist network.”

This claim was bolstered by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) providing a tip to the FBI’s New York field office in July regarding a “social media account user whose identity was unknown and who was discussing the planning of a mass shooting with threats non-specific in nature,” the FBI told The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9NEWS, in September.

These posts were eventually connected to Holly, but a motive still was not pinpointed, Kelley said.

“There is no clear motive for the shooting,” she said. “Him being radicalized is still the case, but that doesn’t explain the motives in any way, shape or form.”

Kelley also added that Holly was a part of multiple extremist groups online, not divulging directly into a singular one. He also did not leave a manifesto, journal or hit list regarding the shooting.

PARENTS WON’T FACE CHARGES

Holly’s parents will not face criminal charges regarding the revolver Holly used in the shooting, according to the release.

Investigators were able to trace the gun to its original purchase in Florida in 1966, but the original owner is deceased. Family connections could not be found between the original owner and Holly.

DNA analysis also excluded both parents from the weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

The parents’ attorney later told investigators that the handgun was a family heirloom that was stored near the back of a locked gun safe.

“According to the letter, the shooter did not have access to the safe, except for brief moments when it was opened by his father,” the department said.

Ultimately, investigators found that the parents did not break any laws regarding safe storage of firearms or providing firearms to a juvenile.

When it comes to mass shootings or school shootings, parents have only ever been criminally charged for culpability once in the country’s history — James and Jennifer Crumbley in Michigan.

On Nov. 30, 2021, then-15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shot 11 people at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Mich. He killed four students and injured seven other people, including a teacher.

The two parents of the shooter were found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter in separate jury trials in 2024. Both were sentenced to 10-to-15 years in prison for — Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald argued — repeatedly ignoring clear and obvious warning signs that could have prevented the tragedy. 

For example, the parents didn’t properly store the handgun purchased for the shooter.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Holly’s parents did, thus didn’t break Colorado Revised Statute 18-12-114.

Attorney Scott Robinson, a 9NEWS legal analyst, told The Denver Gazette in September that charging parents in a school shooting would be a “significant hurdle” for prosecutors to jump.

“It’s theoretically possible,” he said. “I know we have a statute that makes parents civilly liable for criminal actions with a very nominal limit. But in terms of criminal culpability, it’s not something that has happened here.”

“The JCSO acknowledges that this was not the outcome many in our community hoped for,” the sheriff’s office said Wednesday. “While not every investigation results in additional charges, our focus has always been on pursuing the truth and accountability wherever it could be legally established.”