A teenage boy who was wounded in a Colorado high school shooting last month was released from the hospital Tuesday, authorities said.
Matthew Silverstone, 18, was released from Common Spirit St. Anthony Hospital after enduring gunshot wounds to the head and chest in the Sept. 10 shooting in Evergreen, Colorado, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.
"'I’m still alive!'" Silverstone said in a brief statement, according to the news release.
Authorities say the Evergreen High School shooting occurred after a 16-year-old fired off about 20 rounds around 12:30 p.m., injuring Silverstone and another student, before fatally shooting himself. The other injured teenager was released from the hospital shortly after the shooting occurred.
Images released by the sheriff's office show Silverstone being wheeled out of the hospital to a crowd of about 140 first responders and hospital staff, clapping and holding blue balloons, Silverstone’s favorite color, according to the news release.
One of the images shows Silverstone sitting in a hospital bed, thumbs up.
The teenager's heart stopped twice — once at the scene, and once in the ambulance en route to the hospital, his family said in the news release.
"After emergency surgeries, the doctors prepared us for the worst," his family said in a statement. "But Matthew has never given up."
The gunfire spanned an estimated nine minutes, according to authorities, who credited school employees for responding quickly with active shooter protocol.
Authorities identified the shooter as Desmond Holly and said he had been "radicalized by an extremist network," offering no further details.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism said in a statement shortly after the shooting that Holly "expressed neo-Nazi views" on social media, and that his TikTok accounts specifically "were filled with white supremacist symbolism."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
