A manhunt for a woman allegedly “infatuated” with the Columbine massacre who traveled from Florida and forced schools in Colorado to close after threatening violence came to an end Wednesday after she was found dead of an apparent suicide in the mountains southwest of Denver.
Sol Pais,18, was found near the base of Mount Evans in Clear Creek County, located about 60 miles southwest of Denver, according to Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader. Shrader said that Pais was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Everything that I’ve heard in briefings does not indicate that she had any assistance or friends in the area, just a fascination with the Columbine area and the horrendous crime that went on there 20 years ago,” he told reporters.
A photo taken from near Echo Lake, Colorado by FOX31 showed police officers swarming a parking lot close to where the 18-year-old’s body was discovered.
While federal officials were expected to give a comprehensive briefing later, the FBI’s Denver Office said on Twitter there was “no longer a threat to the community.”
Before Pais’s death was reported, 20 to 30 officers were seen Wednesday morning near the Echo Lake Campground during an extensive search operation, according to CBS Denver.
A woman who was hiking in the area Wednesday morning told CBS Denver she was told to leave the area because “a naked woman matching the description with a gun was spotted in the area running through the woods.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI had said the 18-year-old was “considered to be extremely dangerous” after traveling to Colorado from Miami on Monday night before purchasing a pump-action shotgun and ammunition. Shrader said the gun was legally purchased at a gunshop in the Littleton, Colorado-area, but did not have further details.
Pais had made threats to “commit an act of violence in the Denver metropolitan area” just days before the 20th anniversary of the attack, according to officials.
Pais had apparently been last seen not far from Columbine — in the Jefferson County foothills outside Denver — in a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots. The alert initially released by authorities said police who come into contact with her should detain her and evaluate her mental health.
Because of the threat, Columbine and more than 20 other schools outside Denver locked their doors for nearly three hours Tuesday afternoon, and some canceled evening activities or moved them inside. About a half million students in the Denver area were forced to stay home Wednesday because authorities believed Pais posed a threat to a school.
“We deal with a lot of threats at Columbine,” John McDonald, executive director of security for the Jefferson County school system, said when the manhunt was over. “This one felt different. It was different. It certainly got our attention.”
Jefferson County Sheriff Superintendent Jason Glass said that normal school operations are expected Thursday with “heightened security.”
“We are relieved that the threats to our schools and our community is no longer present,” he said at a news conference.
On Tuesday night, her father, in Surfside, Florida, told reporters through a closed door at the family home the experience was “like a bad dream.”
Her father, who was not identified, said the family last saw Pais on Sunday. A neighbor said the family moved to the area about 10 years ago, and that Pais was frequently spotted in the neighborhood and attended Miami Beach High School.
Miami-Dade Public Schools confirmed in a statement to Fox News that Pais was a senior at the high school.
“We are disturbed about the events that have transpired and saddened by the heartbreaking outcome,” Superintendent of Miami Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said in a statement. “Our Mental Health Department and our crisis team have been deployed to Miami Beach Senior High to assist students and employees through this difficult time.
“In an abundance of caution, M-DCPS will remain on heightened alert through the end of the week and will continue reviewing all documents related to this case in an effort to inform our mental health detection practices,” Carvalho added.
After the manhunt was over, Police Chief Julio Yero asked that the family be given “privacy and a little time to grieve.”
“This family contributed greatly to this investigation from the very onset. They provided valuable information that led us to Colorado and a lot of things that assisted in preventing maybe more loss of life,” he said.
Another neighbor told CBS4 in Miami that Pais was a quiet person but well behaved.
“She always kept to herself. She never got in trouble at school,” Patricia Bilstin told the television station. “So surprising, and I feel sorry for the family.”
The idiots found “her” before their false flag attack happened.
NAILED IT!
Bartholomew has gone blind.
Colorado just passed a horrible red Flag law and now withing days this happens.
Do we even know if this story is true. So they found a young woman dead and claim she is the one suspected of threatening another shooting.
Either their brain washing didn’t stick or or someone is using this as a way to cover-up her murder. Think about it.
Exactly what I thought
Interesting name…sol-sun, pais-church. This stinks, as per usual.
Sol Pais….
I WONDER HOW LONG THIS BITCH HAS BEEN OUT OF THE I D F BEFORE SHE BECAME “INFATUATED WITH COLUMBINE”……….
Pais was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound…. Really?
like Seth Rich Style?
“no longer a threat to the community.”…because there never was one
was reported, 20 to 30 officers were seen Wednesday morning near the Echo Lake Campground..and every one of them getting Over Time Pay
and it was a perfect time to commit a crime else where because if the criminals could have planned it any better this could have been the perfect time to pull off a bank job or something like that, as every pig in the state was here
This thing got the stink eye from square one.
It’s getting into their sacrifice season.
Colorado:Residents of Colorado can purchase long guns in the states of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming.Residents of NE, KS, OK, NM, AZ, UT and WY can purchase longguns in the state of Colorado. (CO. Code 12-27-102 and 12-27-103)
Not sure how current this info is, but if it is we should hear a stink about it soon.
We’ve got only 3 photos of a seemingly 35-40 year old woman taken with a camera that has the technology of a potato phone and she has lived in an era that doesn’t know what life without a camera phone is like.