Free Republic

About 5,000 motorcyclists rode in a caravan in honor of the 16-year-old girl who was shot at her high school by a gunman who held her hostage. The motorcyclists, including Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener, rode 40 miles to Platte Canyon High School from Columbine High School, the scene of the nation's worst school shooting in 1999. It was Wegener who made the call for SWAT officers to invade a classroom where authorities said Duane Morrison, 53, took Emily Keyes and other girls hostage and molested them on Sept. 27. Morrison shot Emily in the head after SWAT officers stormed...

Platte Canyon High School in Bailey was evacuated early Wednesday afternoon because of a hostage situation with a gunman, Park County emergency dispatchers said. Dispatchers said there was at least one hostage. The adjoining middle school was also evacuated. Jan Howard, a secretary to the superintendent of Park County Schools, said the students were being taken to a safe location and only sheriff's deputies and fire officials were being allowed into the schools. Authorities said U.S. Highway 285 was closed in Bailey because of the situation. Jefferson County authorities said deputies, including the SWAT team and bomb squad, from their...