It's This is the worst thing I've ever been through. Now everyone's going to think I'm a monster. Meet 18-year-old Devon Erickson, a teenager responsible for one of the worst shootings Colorado has ever seen. A crime that would land him nearly 1,300 years in prison. Devon Erickson was convicted in June on 46 charges. >> Erickson was sentenced to life plus more than 1,200 years. But to understand how and why he got over a millennia in jail, we will have to rewind just a few hours before this interrogation. Because in that short span of time, Devon and his co-conspirator would endanger hundreds of students and take an innocent life. And now detectives must trudge through the evidence and determine whether Devon really was roped into it all. So again, at what point did you try to stop him? There was multiple times he just kept threatening me. Or if this is all an act and he is the real mastermind behind everything. Well, I didn't think it was anything to worry about. You didn't think it's anything to worry about when somebody tells you don't come to school tomorrow? Why is this happening to me? I just want to be happy. On May 7th, 2019, Douglas County Sheriff's Office raced to STEM School Highlands Ranch after reports of shots fired began to pour in. When they arrived, they found a room of traumatized teens, nine of whom had been hit, and two perpetrators already in custody by school security. 16-year-old Maya Alec McKinney and 18-year-old Devon Erickson. Alec, whose birth name was Maya, is a transgender man who had been living as such for quite some time before the shooting. No one had expected the two students to attack their own. But when they did, three people in the class, Kendrick Castillo, Joshua Jones, and Brendan Bialy, leapt into action tackling Devon as he entered the room with a gun. As Devon and Alec were taken into custody, Kendrick was clinging to life. And Devon, well, he's just not ready to admit his role in that. The following footage was kindly provided to us by Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Colorado. All right, Devon, tell me what happened today in your own words. Okay. Um So, I woke up for school and I kept trying to delay cuz I didn't want to see Alec. Um But he kept messaging me on Snapchat and trying to get me to school and he was threatening me. So, I drove to school for my first class noise. I just kept trying to tell him like I went to the office and there's security camera footage that will show he walked to the office. He told me to come back to class or he was going to come to the office and kill everybody there cuz he still had all the guns cuz I didn't take them with me. I went to the office to get help and I just said I was sick. That's what I told Miss Harper. And I tried to get the room. I just beside specifically get out. Okay. Yeah. Let's back up a little bit. >> I was just supposed to block the door and that was the way he was going to let me live. That's why I just told nobody to move. And then I kept staying by the door and when Kendrick rushed me, he hit my hand and that's why I ended up shooting him. I was trying to You see right after there's a camera in the room, I think. I put my hands right out and immediately give in to the people taking the stuff from me and start telling them stuff immediately. I just I was He just told me to block the door to be safe. That's why I didn't get hurt. Okay. Let's Let's back up a little bit. You woke up this morning Yeah. You mentioned something about Alec you were trying to delay. He was messaging you on Snapchat? >> Yeah, and then he Tell what Yeah. Take a deep breath for me, all right? And I managed to say that my dad would never want me to get suspicious if I didn't go to my next class, which is how I got away from him to go to my next class, which was photography and then I left my stuff there and asked to go to the bathroom. And then I drove home and he started messaging me again cuz he wanted to go He was seeing if I was in class, but I had friends in that class and so he knew I wasn't in that class cuz he knows all of them. Let's back up. Yeah. All right, cuz I'm I'm not understanding. I'm just I'm just a little bit Now I get you. And just take a deep breath for me, relax a little bit. And let's talk about this, okay? Who's Alec or Alec? >> Alec, A L E C, Alec McKinney. Okay. What What was Why was Alec messaging you this morning? What was >> Um so, last night he told me not to come to school tomorrow and I saved it and I wanted to sit with my friends cuz I have a lot of friends at that school. Yeah. And then I saved that message and then I was going to tell my friends it's saved on Snapchat on my phone and I was going to tell my friends and that's when he started threatening me cuz it was saved. Cuz he knew that was suspicious. So, last night Alec messaged you. Yeah. And he told you don't come to school. >> Yeah. Okay. What else did he tell you? He told me that he was just super He wanted to get revenge on a lot of people. Um he told me he was considering killing his mom and his siblings, too. Cuz he hates them. But he didn't do that. I kept telling him not to. And then he said um he was going to kill me if I told anyone and the only way I'd let him uh live was if he helped me. Cuz he knows from other times I've told him that my dad had four guns in the safe up in my mom's room, but it was locked and I didn't know where the keys were. Did you say he knew that? He knew that. Yeah. How did he know that? Just cuz they had come up in conversation cuz people were talking about um like just cuz um he said his dad used to have a shotgun. What did you and Alec talk about yesterday? Yesterday, it didn't seem weird yesterday. He just seemed really upset, kind of. Sometimes he gets really upset, but usually I'm able to talk him down. Um Okay. So, what was he upset about? Um it's just stuff going on with his mom and his life at home cuz like his dad's gone and he had like um a prescription he was dealing it and he was having a problem with that, but his mom found out and he was mad about that, but like it's kind of like a thing that we are all kind of more against that stuff. Like my family's really anti-drug cuz my sister had a lot of problems when I was a little kid, so Already, several things that poor innocent little Devon is saying aren't adding up. Firstly, police have texts, including one from Devon that tells Alec, "Okay, you can start shooting." That doesn't exactly sound like someone who wasn't involved, does it? And on top of that, he claims he's anti-drug, yet you're about to hear him use him being under the influence as a defense. Of course, totally against his will. Because just like people accidentally cheat by tripping and falling into a good time, people accidentally can fall face down in a pile of snow, if you catch my drift. You mentioned that you saved these conversations on your phone. I saved the one where he told me um not to come to school tomorrow. Okay. And then on his phone there's videos of him um eating. He's holding a gun in one of them. That's what he made me do. Um this morning. And um also a video of when he was trying to get me beat to be in the safe with the crowbar. Um cuz he hit it a whole bunch with the axe and made like a cut in it. Okay. Um is this something that we could see on your phone? Um yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they took my phone and everything I have. Okay. So, we mentioned the thing about revenge today. Yeah. During the Snapchat conversation, tell me specifics. >> like don't come to school tomorrow and I kind of thought he was kidding at first cuz a lot of kids like joke like that. They're ironic about that stuff. Usually they'll say just kidding. >> Right. I was like, "You're kidding, right?" Like like obviously I have to go to school and stuff and I was like, "Why would you like Don't just don't. Like please. Like call me or something." Alec didn't want to call or anything. Alec was just like, "Don't tell anybody or you know, like I I will hurt you, too." Like and I That's the end of the call kind of. He just kind of insinuated that he would hurt me, too, but didn't say he would kill me. Call or not call? It was a text. Yeah, sorry. Um I'm just a little scrambled brain. No, you're completely good. Um So, he said, "Don't come to school." Yeah. Um and then he Do you remember how he kind of said you you would get hurt? Um just that like it's not smart for me to tell other people and that um like a lot more people could get hurt. Did he ever specifically say that for you not to tell anybody? Um he said that in person plenty of times. And then that's it. I think it's on video, maybe. There's videos that he took cuz he thought it was funny cuz I was all freaking out about it at my house. It's on his He has two phones, a black phone and then he has this iPod Touch that his mom doesn't know he has. No. Um and he recorded some videos of me like laughing at me while he was um he made me cuz he took an axe from my garage, which is what he was kind of threatening me with at one point, and used to cut open the gun safe and then he made me hit it a few times with the crowbar cuz he didn't want to hand me the axe, obviously, cuz he was trying need I didn't run. Because I kept kind of tried to like kept trying to but he would notice when I would get like kind of close to getting away. He'd be like, "Don't stand near the door." and stuff like that. Okay. Cuz that was after um the off period the off period. I went back to pick up Alec cuz he messaged me on Snapchat and told me to. Or Alec not Alec. This was yesterday. This is today. This is when all this stuff happened. Okay. So you >> dad was home last night. You broke into the safe today. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He cut it open with the ax and then made me hit it a few times to try to do some more to it but I'm kind of weak and stuff and I'm like scrawny and I was like freaked out so my anxiety makes it really hard for me to hit stuff. All right. Let's back up a little bit. Let's dial um You mentioned that he told you not to tell anybody and that's happened a few times. Yeah. Um like Yeah. I mean like it happened a few times since he said that the first time. Like insinuated that like today he said that a bunch of times. Like don't tell anybody. Don't try to run cuz I'll know. I'll know if you're doing that. And how how long has he been like saying this to you? Today was like when it really got scary. It was like a different person kind of like seeing him. It was like he kind of was holding off on that like all the other times. So Right. Um what time did that happen? I don't know. The conversation you had with him on Snapchat What did you take that to mean? Um I mean I I took it as like maybe he was going to not if I like talked to him some today and like he was like he didn't threaten to like hurt me or anything. So like obviously I wasn't going to show up and I was obviously going to tell somebody cuz I can't just let him do that. Obviously I was going to try to stop people. What were you trying to stop? >> Stop him. I was trying to stop anybody from getting hurt. That's why I tried to get people to run. Um I I like told him that like I I was going to pull like a fire alarm or something but then he told me like that if I do that too he'll just shoot me then and then he'll just kill everyone anyways. Okay. So yesterday during the conversation during on Snapchat >> Yes. On Snapchat. Did you think that he was going to hurt somebody? I didn't think he was really going to do it. I never thought he could actually do that cuz he never seemed like that crazy. He didn't seem like evil. He just seemed sad and like lonely. Now in Alec's interrogation he paints a completely different picture stating that it was actually Devon who planned the entire shooting. Now buckle up because this is where things get very well teenagery. According to Devon and Alec's testimony Devon's girlfriend who was also close friends with Alec had a falling out with both of them based on a rumor that infidelity had occurred between the two. That was according to Alec the pushing point that drove them towards the shooting. However, based on evidence found at the house that seems to like everything else these boys say be an excuse. So you picked him up. You brought him back. You said he was acting kind of off. Yeah. Acting kind of off like really aggressive and upset like What was he saying? He was just like um really pissed off cuz his mom took his like prescriptions away and that um like at school like Okay. It was like still there and he like was really pissed off still about that rumor that they had spread about him. And he was just like pissed off at a bunch of people. Do you know about how when did that rumor start? No. I I don't really know. I think last semester but I wasn't asked him last semester. Like so was this something fairly recent? >> so. Yeah. It seemed to me like he was pretty pissed off so I'd assume it was more recent. Okay. So you guys are hanging out in the basement. He's kind of angry. Then what? Then that was when he pulled out the uh the first time and I told him I was like I I just don't I don't I'm not down with this. Like you're going kind of too far and you're like scaring me a little bit and I was like I don't want you to hurt anybody at school or anything like that. I really think you need help. And that was when he started really threatening me and like told me to follow him and go upstairs and don't try to run cuz he'd kill me. Did you use pull it out? Not the first time but there's a and you if you find Alec's phone you can find the video of after he got all the guns out is when he made me do it. Had you ever done prior to that? No. Where did he get I'm not sure. He didn't tell me. He just says he knows a lot of people. Cuz it was dad. All right. So you guys go upstairs. What was he telling He was just telling me to follow him basically and then once we got upstairs he led me into my mom's room and told me to show him where the safe was. Okay. And that was when I went towards the door the first time and then he told me to get away from the door otherwise he was going to kill me. And then he was just going to go do it anyways. This was inside This is in my house. Yeah. My mom's bedroom. And then I led him to the safe and that's when he hit it a few times and then told me to pull it out and made me pull it out. What did he hit it with? Uh the ax he got in my garage. Okay. Where did Um he had it behind his back. That's why I was kind of didn't see it. He had put it against the wall up by my stairs when we went down there. He was holding it behind the passenger door is where it was hung up on my wall. It's where my car parks in the garage. So he was holding it behind me cuz I had to unlock the door and go in first so I never saw it the first time. Okay. How how big was this ax? Um it's full sized I think. I don't know. It's my dad's. Give me an arm estimate. How long maybe? Okay. What color was it? Um just wooden and red on the end I think. Wooden red on the end. Okay. >> It was like pretty old it seems like so it was really faded. So it was rusty. Did he already have this with him when you guys were upstairs? >> that with me when we went upstairs but I didn't see it before we went to the basement. He He Yeah. Cuz he got it from the garage. And then when we went to the basement he was behind me still. And that was when he pulled out the base Okay. The first time that's when I said no and told him that I wasn't okay with it. What did he do with it? He did a one line of it. Okay. And then we went upstairs. That's when he did that. And then he got it out again. Got out and watched the door with the guns. Yeah. Got out the actual Yes. He made me. Let's go back to the bedroom. Yeah. He hit open the gun safe with the ax a bunch of times. Tried with a crowbar and that's how he pried open the door without the key. It like popped out. He was making me help him so he didn't get too tired. Um cuz he didn't want me to be able to run away. Um where did the crowbar come from? Also my garage. So he walked in your house with an ax No. He had that. He got the crowbar later. Sorry. My bad. Alec Who got the crowbar later? Alec. Still Alec. That's what I mean when I say he he's the only one that was with me. Okay. back at school. About how long were you guys in the bedroom before he left to get the crowbar? Um that was when we were hitting on the thing with the ax he made me um try to find the key but he I didn't know where it was obviously cuz my dad didn't tell me so none of the keys were working which is when he was like, "Okay. Follow me." and then he made me go back down and that's when he got the crowbar. According to Alec's testimony Alec wanted to die. The plan was to set up the crime so it looked like Devon was forced to participate in the murders starting with Devon being forced to open the safe. The footage was taken on Alec's phone of him supposedly forcing Devon to both do drugs and to open the safe. In reality though it was all planned to make Devon look like a martyr who had no choice but to go along with Alec. A martyr who at the end of the shooting was supposed to shoot Alec and make himself look like a hero. Again this is teenager logic so we got to bear with the stupidity here. What was inside that open? What was inside the safe? Inside the safe was 9 mm ammo 22 mm ammo 45 ammo and then a Glock 21 a 9 mm Beretta M9. The Glock is 45 sorry. Uh Ruger 22 rifle and a Taurus Tracker revolver which is also 22. Okay. And those were all in there. So what did What did you guys grab out of the safe? Uh that was all the stuff that was really in the safe was the guns and some boxes and then he got all the guns put them in his backpack and then he told me to follow him which is when he recorded the video of making me do He was holding it up to my head. Okay. So Did you guys Did you take all the guns out? All the guns all four of them. That's all there is. >> Did you grab any of the guns? None of them were actually ones I cuz I didn't intend on using them. I kept telling him I wasn't down with it and I wasn't okay with it and then I just I couldn't do it. I can't I couldn't bring myself to do something like that. And then he made me leave. That's when he made me do it. So we went into the He made me leave the closet and we went into the bathroom. Okay. So he pulls out and how What did he specifically tell you? He just um He just told me to do it and take it otherwise he'd shoot. Cuz I I didn't want to. Okay. He said I was too freaked out and there was no way I was going to be able to stand at the door if I was still too freaked out, so he gave that to me and I didn't want to, but then I I I I couldn't do all of it cuz it was like freaking me out too much and it's just like my sister's had so many problems and I don't want to I've never wanted to be like her, you know? And so he he then finished the rest of it, which was about half of the wine cuz I couldn't do the last one cuz I just started crying and breaking down. Okay. So you said stand at you were freaking out too freaked out to stand at the door is what he said? Um like when we went into the school cuz that's always what he said. He said he would let me live and not kill anybody if I stood at the door and told everybody to stay still and just point the gun at them. What what was the like what was his plan? He wouldn't tell me his plan all the way. I just knew he wanted to I just did Okay. So before you guys go to the school, what what did you think was going What was your I guess recollection >> of trying to talk him out of it and get help and my plan was leave and then I was going to go to the office and I was going to tell them anyway cuz I was just going to leave my uh suitcase or the not the suitcase the guitar case in there. Cuz the suitcase can't uh handle. I was just going to leave I left it in there and then I went to the office and told Miss Harper I was sick. But that's when he went to the office too and he was waiting at the doors for me and messaged me and telling me that was he was waiting for me and he was just going to kill everybody including me if I told anyone. Okay. So you meet Alec at the office, then what happened? Uh we walked back to the classroom. And then Which classroom? The one where the shooting was uh started. 107 Miss Harper's room. Okay. 107 Miss Harper's room. He told me to go around to the other door cuz that was the one I was supposed to block, so I knocked on it and he let me in. And I set down the suitcase and I I saw Alec like look at me and like kind of like nod at me cuz he knew I was trying to leave cuz I opened the door again and then I closed it and just opened the suitcase and told everybody to stay down. Not Luke. And then I was just going to run. And then Kendrick rushed at me and he he he kind of like hit me, which is when the shot went off on him, which is what I didn't want to happen. Cuz I was trying to leave and that's when I just gave up and put my hands out and I started yelling and saying I'm I'm sorry I didn't mean to and like I have proof that I can show them that he's the Now everyone's going to think I'm monster. They do and he is. In this story Devon is the monster whose aim was according to text messages and Alec's testimony to kill every person in the classroom. But unfortunately for them that classroom was full of heroes, namely 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo, Joshua Jones and Brendan Bialy who all charged Devon as soon as he drew his gun. In the struggle tragically Kendrick was shot and killed. His brave actions along with Joshua and Brendan saved over a dozen kids. When uh who pulled out a gun first? Alec was pulling it out and that's when I pulled mine out and told everyone not to move because I saw Alec reach for it cuz that's what he told me he was going to do. All right. Where did you pull your gun from? >> It was inside the suitcase. It was the Glock. Okay. Does by suitcase you mean the guitar case? >> guitar case, yeah. >> Okay. Um and at that time was it loaded? Yeah, it was already loaded. Okay. So and if I'm wrong tell me. So Alec stays at the doorway? Um I I that's when I turned everybody and said no one move and that's when they rushed me, so it was all really fast. I just gave up once he rushed me. And I was just Who loaded the guns? Alec loaded all the guns, yeah. So all the guns were all loaded when you >> Yeah, he made me hand him the ammo cuz he grabbed all the guns and then he loaded all the guns. Okay. You go back to this doorway? Mhm. You see Alec and then I opened the door one last time and then I see Alec and then I I just came back inside closed the door cuz it was my only chance to like just save somebody, you know? Who were you trying to save? As many people as possible cuz he's on the other side of the room so if someone tackled him then like I could just throw the gun down and like put my hands up and just let everyone run out the other door. That's why I ran to I just let them hold me down on the floor. Why didn't you shoot Alec? I because I I I I didn't think I would hit him and then it's like I'm just pulling a gun out in school. What if he doesn't shoot first and no one believes me? No. So I have a gun on that side. And I look like the crazy kid that was shooting up the school. Okay. Um So you pulled your gun out, you said everybody get down, don't move. >> everybody just don't move and that's when Kendrick and Brendan both rushed me. Okay. And Kendrick hit me, which is the only reason Okay. And I willingly just let Brendan grab the gun and take it and I immediately told him where all the other guns were, that Alec had a gun what his name was. I told everybody where my stuff was, where everything was. What was Alec doing when this was happening? I I couldn't see anything cuz um Josh and Brendan held me down. Okay. And then did Brendan get all the guns, gather them and then I don't know what happened after. I was just laying on the ground telling people information so they could get out. So Kendrick went to go tackle you? Kendrick and Brendan both at the same time just pushed rushed against me and they like uh tackled me and hit me, which is when the gun I was holding went off. Okay. Did you see if that hit anybody? Kendrick. Okay. You see that? I don't think Josh got hit, but I don't know if that was uh Alec or if it went through Kendrick cuz I heard someone say exit wound. Okay. So it just went to the ground. Did you say did you say anything to Kendrick or Brendan when they came at you? I told I told Kendrick and Brendan when they were rushing I started to yell no. Uh and I was like trying to throw it down and that's when I threw it down and I was like Brendan no, I'm serious. I I Here's the gun. Like there's another gun in there. Alec has two guns. He has a Beretta and the revolver and he's trying to kill everyone. Okay. When you're on the ground, what do you hear? Uh I thought I heard more gunshots. I just heard a lot of yelling and screaming. I was just so in shock and freaked out. My ears were ringing from the gunshot cuz it was really close to me cuz he tackled me and that's why I like just laid down. So you laid on the ground for a little bit. Yeah. Then what happened? Um I got handcuffed obviously because the people came in cuz Josh was holding me down and I just let him. He said he was hit and I just kept telling him No, just wrap something around his leg and save him. So if you just like and I kept telling everyone about Alec and what he was wearing cuz I didn't want other people to get hurt. Cuz I knew he was just going to keep going killing people. Could you see Alec at that point? No, I was on the floor. Okay. Face down with Josh on top of me. Did you ever say anything to Alec and Brendan? Not Alec. But to Brendan as he was leaving. And then Josh I had told everything to Josh. I was telling him I'm sorry he got hurt and I didn't want anyone to get shot. I wasn't trying to shoot people. I was just trying to get out. Then what happened after that? After that was just I got handcuffed and put against the wall for a while and then I just heard more gunshots and yelling and my ears were still ringing. Do you remember the police coming in? Yeah. What happened with that? Once I was I was still on the ground letting them like hold me the cops came in and just one put his um boot against my like back of my neck or like back area and then they put like gun to my head and one of the cops told me he should just kill me right where I was and they kept calling me a monster and kept trying to tell everyone. Devon can claim that he was trying to escape and warn everyone, but that's very clearly not the case. For starters he texted three separate people, two people inside the classroom and Alec. He could have texted those inside the classroom telling them what was coming and urging them to barricade the doors. He didn't. He could have texted or called a parent, friend or even the police to warn them. He didn't. He sat in the classroom knowing what was coming and texted Alec telling him now was the time to move into position. So why didn't you tell Miss Harper? I didn't tell Miss Harper cuz he was in the room with me. He came to school with me. He was in that room. He was right behind me when I was talking to Miss Harper. Why didn't you tell Mitchell? Why didn't I tell Mitchell? Cuz you walked to the office >> Cuz I didn't want him to like freak out about anything. I wanted to get to the office so I could tell an adult and get the security officer so that one like freaked out and no like nobody just started running cuz I didn't know if you were going to >> it to the office with two guns. You made it to the office though, right? >> Yeah, I know. I made it to the office and that's when they got me in there and I went into the bathroom really fast cuz I felt like I was going to throw up cuz I was just freaking out so much and they saw how like sweaty I was and like I was shaking and it was like a full-blown panic attack when I was going to the office. Back up a little bit. You got to the office and you saw Alec there and that's kind of what >> Well, Alec was there when I left. He met up with me but he messaged me and said that he was going to do all that stuff cuz I went into the office first. But I was having the panic attack so I went to the bathroom so I could like calm down and then talk to them. >> When you were in Miss Harper's office and you told her that No, I wasn't in Miss Harper's office. I was in her classroom. Yeah, Alec was there. Okay. That's why I didn't say You left and went to the shooting. You left and went to the office but Alec stayed >> Yeah, and she made me leave the classroom. Yes. Alec stayed in the classroom and then left after he texted me. But you made it all the way to the office >> Yes, cuz she made Mitchell go with me. Okay. But Alec was not at the front office yet. >> Alec wasn't at the front office yet, no. He was inside of this class. I was I went to the high school office where they made me go. They told me to go to the high school office. That's why And what's your reasoning for not telling anybody in the office? Not telling anybody in the office because I had the panic attack and ran to the bathroom and then once I came out that was when I been able to check my phone and saw that he was threatening that and coming. What he say? He said he was going to kill me and everybody in there if I didn't just say I was fine and come out. Including me since I wasn't cooperating. Why did you feel that you were in danger? Cuz he had guns and an axe and weapons and stuff. I I Right, but you got him in his backpack and he said he was going to probably put them in his waistband so I'm sure he had one with him. Right, but you're now all the way up in the office >> And he said he's walking to the office so he's there. I'm thinking he's just going to come in the door and just start killing all of us. And he was there. Once they opened that door and I was out there, he was right there. Okay. You guys I'm sure the security camera footage will show that. So you get back to the office meet up with Alec. Yeah. At that point did you Were you afraid that something was going to happen? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But I was like also freaking out because I was so out of breath and tired and like sweating and stuff cuz I he was having a beat on that stuff and I was like just super freaked out because I mean it's the worst thing I've ever been through. I can't remain calm when doing that [ __ ] I was just so freaked out and like shaky when I got there. So why did you keep going along with what Alec Cuz I didn't want him to kill me and a bunch of other innocent people cuz I knew even if he didn't get in the office and kill me, he was still going to kill people. He was coming and he had guns. So what did you do >> armed and ready. I didn't want anybody to die. That's what I was trying to stop anyone from dying. Okay, so tell me what did you do to try to stop him? Well, I was going to tell them about him. I was going to tell them all about him and then I was going to try to get maybe pull like the fire alarm or something when I texted him and told him to go to the bathroom because I needed to meet up with him but I was in the office still when I told him that. So you don't think Mitchell could have done that? Mitchell, no. Mitchell I couldn't say anything suspicious or anything but Was Alec with you at that time? Alec was not with me when I was with Mitchell. I was just super out of breath with Mitchell walking back there and I was still freaking out. So at that point you were you were alone >> wanted to get an adult cuz I didn't know if Mitchell was going to freak out because I knew if we just pulled the fire alarm alarm then when Alec was still in the classroom, he was just going to start shooting people. Cuz he had the guns and I knew if he thought that I was doing that cuz he told me multiple times if I was if I if I tried to get away or tried to just rat on him that he was going to hurt a lot of people and me. But even if he couldn't kill me, he was still going to kill everyone in that classroom if everyone started freaking out and getting out of the school. He had everything with him. That's why he kept those guns on him. Okay. So don't tell me what you were going to do. What did you do to try and stop Alec? What did I actually do to try and stop Alec? Mhm. Um I warned And I um I guess I warned I told David like Alec needed help but to try and stop Alec I tried to run a few times in my house or get near a door so I could run but Alec saw every single time and would just threaten me and tell me to come back or otherwise he was just going to hurt me and another bunch of other people. That's what he kept threatening was that he was just hurt me and other people. He just wanted to hurt a bunch of people. Cops are clearly onto Devon's lies here because well, they make no sense. Especially when you factor in that Devon was separated from Alec several times over the course of the day including the 14 minutes that he was in the nurse's office alone away from Alec and Alec's supposed influence. 14 minutes where he could have made the decision to call the police, tell the nurse or warn the kids in the classroom. He did none of the above. Thinking about the past 24 hours of your conversations with Alec, did you have any concerns about Um just the night before I wasn't concerned he was going to do something like that. I wasn't I didn't think he would do something like that until he started threatening me with the hat axe. That's when I knew he was serious serious. So did you ever try telling an adult at any point? Yeah, so I went to the office to try and tell the adults and then I was going to try and tell Miss Harper but he was already in there. After he loaded up guns and brought them to the >> had them loaded up and brought to the school because the thing was once he made his plan clear and had the axe, I didn't have a way to go to anybody cuz that was the last time we were at the house. Did it ever cross your mind to tell an adult before that point? No. Okay. Cuz I I had all these other reasons and all these things he was telling me and I believed him because he's he's just seeming like he was fine. And he told like that he was fine. So I didn't think it was anything to worry about. >> You didn't think it's anything to worry about when somebody tells you don't come to school tomorrow? I thought he was still like he was just like still messing with me a little bit but then maybe I could he was not going to do it in the end, you know, cuz he didn't seem like he was going to do that in the morning, you know, like he was like dangerous dangerous. But I was still scared of him and he he was at school still so if he had another weapon on him, I was scared that he was just going to start doing that too if like he got called to the office or something. He was just he was like at the breaking point and if he just broke and started shooting and then it's on me too cuz I could have tried to prevent it which is what I was trying to do. But you tell me he didn't threaten you until He didn't like threaten threaten me to where I thought it was like real and not just him messing around cuz like that's how a lot of all of us guys are. We're like ironic and joke and like push each other around and like joke about like you know, uh like you know, I'll beat you like as a joke, you know, obviously we're never serious about that stuff. We don't like hurt each other and stuff. Like my friends can confirm with they all of us just joke about that stuff. It's just like teenage boys do that stuff. I never thought he would do all that. You realize we were teenagers. boys will >> Yeah, I know. I know. But my parents don't really understand that humor so I just figured I'd say that. I'm sorry. Oh. Um went back to the house. You said who loaded the guns? Alec loaded the guns. Why didn't you leave then? Because he had me in the corner of the closet. I was backed up. There was no doors I could go through. He still had the guns. And ammo and a hatchet. Yeah, he's going to shoot me. If I leave I I If he shoots me, he still goes to school. >> How's he going to load a gun? I mean He knew how to load a gun. He put the bullets right in. I'm sure he looked it up. This kid's not stupid. This kid's What I'm saying is Clearly he was planning This kid's sitting there fumbling with four four guns. He loaded them individually. It's not like he just started doing one mag at a time, one bullet. He loaded it and then pointed it at me. He loaded one in the chamber, cocked it and pointed at me. And started loading the other magazines. I knew I couldn't get out. I wouldn't be stupid. I was trying to save my friends. That's why I warned people. That's why I gave in and I'm trying to help you guys. You you realize that I've been a cop for 70 years. >> you're a cop, dude. I I can't load a gun It's >> and point a gun at somebody at the same time. If you have So if you put one bullet in there and I'm low in this the corner of this closet, worn out, freaking out because this person's been trying to threatening to kill me and just made me just hammer onto this thing with this crowbar. I'm all worn out. I don't have the energy to take this kid. And he's already stronger than me. I'm scrawny. I have no willpower like muscle. I literally couldn't take this kid. I'm not asking you to take him. Why didn't you flee the house? I was in the back of So in this closet in my mom's room, there's only one door. He was on that side. The safe's laid down in the middle and I'm on the other side of the safe. He told me to stay on that side. What what I don't understand is how was he loading the gun? Cuz he made me give him the bullets while still holding the hatchet. He grabbed the guns with his other hand and then that's when he made me hand him the ammo. He told me to sit down still holding the hatchet, put one bullet in and put it in the magazine and cocked it so there was one in the chamber he could aim at me. All right. That's when he started loading >> load the rest of the guns? He just kept that right next to him and told me if I got up immediately he was going to grab it. Okay. Okay. Let's go back a little bit. Um You said your dad was had guns. Yeah. Did you grow up with guns? Not really. They weren't till I was later that he and I like went to the shooting range and got those. >> Have you ever been shooting with your dad? Yeah, a few times. I took like the gun safety. They taught me about it. He had like all the licenses and stuff and like it's in a country club for it, a gun club. Okay. What did he tell you about gun safety? Um like I I know how like all the safeties work, not to point it at people obviously, not to leave it loaded and like just carry it around and stuff. Always make sure to be safe like when it's unloaded and stuff like pull the slides back, leave all the guns and like ammo out of away from the guns and stuff, which is why they were not already loaded or anything, no. Can I assume he told you never to point it at anybody? >> Obviously don't point it at people. Don't shoot. Obviously don't shoot people but that's just kind of a given, you know? Anything about you know where your finger should be? Um I like that until you're ready to shoot. >> What does that mean? So the side so you don't hurt anybody. Obviously so you don't accidentally fire the gun when it's loaded so you put your gun like this to the side if you're holding a pistol or rifle you put it like that. >> Okay. And you never [ __ ] it before you're ready to shoot either. So like away from the trigger. Mhm. Okay. Devon is digging himself an even deeper hole here by making it clear that not only does he know gun safety but that he was well versed in it and still absolutely didn't follow it. The safety was off, his finger was on the trigger and the gun was obviously loaded unlike Alec who apparently wasn't knowledgeable in guns whatsoever. Alec attempted to self exit but was unable to release the safety on his gun. So how many times did you say you've been shooting? Um maybe like four times total. Okay. So knowing that how did uh Kendrick get shot? He got shot because my finger was right there still. I still grabbing it. My finger's right there. He bumps into me cuz they're rushing me and they're actually hitting the barrel end of the gun with their body and grabbing me. Was your finger on the trigger? My finger was next to the trigger but it wasn't over the trigger cuz I wasn't going to hurt anybody. I was just going to tell everyone to stay in the run. So >> tried to throw it down. Um Was Did anybody else know about this? Nobody else knew about this cuz I couldn't tell everybody cuz every time I tried to he would threaten me or find some sort of way to make me think that I wasn't safe enough to do that and he was still going to hurt other people. Sure. Was anybody supposed to help you guys with this? >> Nobody was supposed to help us with this, no. What was the plan after the classroom? After I was just supposed to guard the door and then he was going to let me live. What do you mean guard the door? That's why I was at the separate door. He was running me at the door and pointing the gun at people so that they wouldn't like try to leave that way. It's the door they and they could just run out that way. He didn't want to use the door to get out. Did he tell you what his plan was? He just told me that part and that's why he needed me at the door. So was he going to shoot everybody in the classroom? He was trying to kill as many people as possible. And then you were going to run? Okay. Get out, pull the fire alarm, run, get out and just try to tell everybody to run. classroom. I Alec said he was going to try to get the room. So I think he was in there. When did he start it? When did he tell you he was going to try to shoot as many people as possible? That was after he was already I had like shown me um the like hatch and everything everything had happened. He told me he was going to kill as many people as possible and we were walking back to the classroom and told me to go to the other door. So that's after the classroom. >> he said he was going to kill as many people as possible and that he would let me live if I just stood at the door and I didn't have to shoot anyone. Okay. So at that point did you have a did you have guns on you? Um no, they were in the classroom still and they were in that uh guitar case. I left it in the classroom cuz I was just trying to leave. That's why I didn't take it with me. >> Who brought the guitar case into the classroom? >> The guitar case yeah, he made me carry it into the school but then I left it in there and tried to leave which is when I told Miss Harper I was sick and went to the office. Okay. So when did he tell you though that he wanted to kill as many people as possible? >> Oh, he told me he was going to kill people when we were at my house and he was threatening me with the hatchet. He told me he was just going to try to kill everybody he could when he was threatening me to go to the door. That's when he said that part. Okay. Is this before or after you were walking back from the office? You mentioned you helped him load the car up. Um I was there when he loaded the car up but he wouldn't let me like physically put stuff in the back seat cuz he didn't want me to open any of the stuff and he >> You told me that you helped him load >> Yeah, I still helped him load up because I still had to drive it to the school. I carried some stuff, yeah. Okay. But you knew he was going to shoot somebody either way. But I was going to try to stop him. That's why I went to the office so I could try to get to an adult who would be able to do it so the school didn't like people weren't just freaking out. >> But you still didn't tell anybody. You you you didn't tell anybody. >> going to the office cuz he was going to kill me. Okay. And everybody inside the office. Doesn't matter cuz he was going to kill people >> Doesn't matter? It does matter cuz I was trying to save everybody. So here's what I'm trying to figure out. At one point you grabbed the gun out of the guitar case. Once we're in there the last time, yeah. Rather than telling everybody get out of the classroom, you told them to get down and don't move. No, I just said because that's what Alec told me to do. If I just say run everybody run and then point a gun at Alec. So were you trying to save them or were you trying to make them targets? I was trying to save them. That's why I was going to then open the door and tell them to run. I just didn't want Alec to do anything first. >> After you told them I'm trying to save as many people as possible. If I just yell that once I run in there Alec's still going to kill a bunch of people and then he has both the guns. If I go in there I have the gun and give it up immediately and so on with the other one which had more ammo cuz that was the .22 and with the long magazine. I'm sure that had way more ammo in it. If I just give myself up, throw everything down and I wasn't trying to shoot Kendrick and then I just tell everybody to run, everybody runs out. That's still the most people saved and at most he probably kills me cuz I'm in the room. So a lot of this to me sounds like self-preservation. Then why do I have the videos of him threatening me and why do I have I have all the evidence. I have He If you find his iPhone you will see a video of me crying while he makes me do that [ __ ] What I'm trying to figure out is why you had a gun on you and at no point did you try to let anybody else out of the classroom. Cuz there was times where I had them inside the classroom. Cuz I tried to warn multiple people but I if he as long as he's in the classroom he's going to kill a bunch of people. As long as he has a gun he's inside the school he's going to kill a bunch of Did you have a gun in the suitcase but not with me, not on me. You but you had time to go back and get the gun. And it was inside the class, yes. I was trying to leave again. I was just going to grab that and then I was trying to get out. That's why if you watch the camera you'll see me grab that, walk out the door and then walk back in. Grab what? The gun? The suitcase and my jacket and stuff or out of the suitcase the the guitar case that has the gun inside of it and then I go out the door but I saw Alec look at me and I knew he was just about to open fire so I came back inside after putting all my stuff outside so I could just run and tell everybody to get out and just give up. >> But did you tell everybody to run and get out? I was going to. That's when I got tackled and then somebody got shot. >> going to. What did you say? What did I actually say? I said get down because that's what Alec told me to do. He's going to kill me and everyone else if I didn't. >> and what? I didn't I don't think I said anything after that. That was when Kendrick rushed me and the gunshot went off and I just gave myself up. Did you ever say don't move? I just I I'm pretty sure I just said everybody stay like everybody like stay still basically. I didn't tell anyone to like get down or anything. I just said stay still. They were still in their seats and able to run. So help me understand. You said you wanted to save people. Yeah. >> But you go back in the classroom. When you go back in you don't prop the door open. Yeah, cuz he was at the office and then I walked out with him. >> My turn. I tried to prop leave the door open. You can see the crack open. But you didn't. in the video. And instead of instead of you know telling everybody to get out, run you decide to pull the gun out, tell everybody to get down and make them targets. This kid gave me expecting me to think straight. Before you freaking out, dude. Before I didn't have a gun I didn't think he was going to try to shoot people. >> Before you picked him up you didn't think that was a good time to tell an adult? Because I thought he was just upset. That's why he wanted me to come to the there cuz I thought maybe he was just sad. He wasn't like violent and mad at everyone else. He's just always depressed and sad. You didn't think >> knows that. I've told him that Alec's always sad. I told him Alec was getting help cuz that's what I thought. You didn't think about trying to run when he's focused on chopping a safe open? Instead of telling >> to do but like I said he had me on the other side of my um mom's closet which is the other side. He had an axe and then once the safe was open enough he had that gun and And had one bullet in the chamber so he could kill me if I tried to run. So, like I said, you knew by this point you knew he at least wanted to kill one person. >> cuz I was >> wouldn't you knew he wanted to kill at least one person in that school, correct? >> Yeah. Why not try to stop him? Cuz that's what I was doing. That's what I was doing, and then he followed me, and he had a gun. He was going to kill >> I've been at your house. I've been at your house. Why not? Cuz he had me with weapons. He was going to kill me, and then just go kill them anyways. That's what he told me he would do if I tried to run, just kill me and kill them anyways. He doesn't care about me. I was just help He was just using me to get help. So, your idea of helping people, saving people, was helping him get guns out of the safe. Cuz he made me cuz he had a weapon at me, so I was basically threatened with a weapon, and for my own life and to save other people at the school, I did that because I thought I could help other people. >> Mhm. Obviously, I was wrong. Instead of making the left to turn to stem, why don't you just make a right and turn here into the police station? >> me, and then he just takes my car? That's what he told me he would do if I retaliated in any way, try to leave, or get any kind of help, he would kill me. Do you know how quickly >> and still kill other people. >> Do you know how quickly they would shut down and lock down the school if there was a gunshot outside of it? >> He'd probably just kill a bunch of other civilians. That's what he said. He didn't care if it was a school. He was still going to do that. So, again, at what point did you try to stop him? There was multiple times. He just kept threatening me. Not what I'm hearing. That's exactly what you're hearing. Literally, you're separated by >> [ __ ] it. I'm not talking to you guys anymore till I have a lawyer and my dad. Get him in here, because you guys aren't listening to me. I'm telling you something. I have evidence. I can show you all that. I gave you all this [ __ ] and you guys are still just making it like I tried hard. We're trying to figure out the story of what happened. >> times I tried He put me on drugs, and I was freaking I'm going I had a gun pointed at my head. I was forced to in my own house. Threatened to kill me a bunch of times. Threatened to kill all these people. How do you expect me to think straight and be able to overpower this kid who has a gun and is more strong than he has all the weapons in and I'm not even fast, and I'm cornered. I can't get out if I'm cornered. We're going to take a break. Do you need anything? Water or bathroom or something? We can do that. Give us a minute. Like my dad. Yeah. Got you. Grab us a cup. Yeah. Anybody watching this, see this. They tried [ __ ] on me. I love you, Dad. Love you, Mom. I love you, Bree. I love you, Devon, I love you. I tried to stop him. I promise. With Devon's demand for counsel as soon as the questions got tough, police were forced to end the interrogation. But the very next day, he's back once again, eager to make himself look like an innocent victim. Since I last spoke to you yesterday, is there anything you can think of that you haven't told me that you feel I should know? Um well, my head's a lot clearer now, cuz I'm not as freaked out from just more pressure and anything like that. It's just so and so. Um I remember um a lot more from when I got when I was actually in the room um around the time of the gunshots. Okay. Um when I um took the gun out, um it was pointed um it was right above the group of heads, um and then Kendrick and Brendan and Joshua Jones all ran at me um to stop me and tackle me, and that is when I got hit from the right side. And yeah, that is when the first gun went off I fired one off, and that's when I threw my hands out forward, and one of them tackled me, and so then I took the gun out. There was another shooter with two more guns on the other side of the room. And that's um the only useful thing is that I do remember is that I told them all that stuff when I filled out my everything. I forgot to tell you guys that stuff yesterday. Cuz I that whole part was just kind of Okay. Um So, back to where pretty much the first shots were fired, can you tell me that sequence of how it got to you pulling out the gun? Um okay. So, I almost left multiple times, kept like going in and out of the doors. I was like trying to go to different areas, and I was like freaking out cuz I this whole entire time I like up until about the hospital yesterday, Mhm. um I was just panicked and just, you know, like freaking out, and I wasn't processing half of what was going on. Um so, that's why I just pulled it out, and I was just going to wave it at them, tell them to stay put, and I was just going to I don't know. I was either going to I I didn't even know what the plan was at that point. It's just Alec kept saying like, you need to hurry up, hurry up, or else I'll be like I'm just going to start shooting and like I I didn't know if I was just going to run out the door when Alec pulled out his gun, or if I was going to try to shoot towards Alec and run before I was just I I was still looking at Alec when they rushed at me. That's when I looked over to see if he was doing that, cuz I didn't want to shoot. Cuz I was just thinking if he if he like does that, and then maybe I shoot towards him and run and tell everyone to run. Everyone on that side of the classroom can still get out, right? There's two doors. That's the kind of I think what they did. I don't know. I was spaced out. I don't know. Got me. I just wanted to at least let someone know Alec had the guns, cuz that was the problem was no one knew that Alec was there, too. Unfortunately, Devon seems set on wasting the detectives' time, because this isn't new information or accurate information. It's yet another weak attempt to cover his own behind. At this point though, Devon doesn't even realize how much his butt is on the line, because he doesn't know that anyone died. What I'm struggling with is I know what you're telling me you wanted to do. I failed to execute. They It was the second I had that gun out. The second I said, "Nobody move." I started turning my body, and that's when they were able to hit me from the side. That's why my finger was able to hit that. It was because I was going to the side. That's why I got tucked into Kendrick as well. Yeah, that's that's Cuz it was Kendrick and Brendan as well. Brendan came from this side, and Kendrick from right here, and then Josh as well. Yeah, cuz They just ran at me so fast I couldn't even turn it to Alec or even turn around. I started turning, but I couldn't do anything in time. Now, I want to understand you. I know. I know. It's just hard, cuz you tell me >> Cuz I was so freaked out, and I couldn't think straight enough to just say like just pull the alarm and just I just didn't want it for him to kill anyone. If I say hands up, and then I shoot him, and then I run and tell everyone to run, then no one gets hurt except for Alec, cuz he's shot. Yeah. That's what I guess the hard time I'm understanding from everything you told me yesterday um and today, you wanted to save people. Yeah, I wanted to save people. That's why I didn't just shoot anybody. And there there was a few opportunities that you had to tell somebody. And every single one I had Alec saying that if I told anybody, or if I tried to run, that he would just kill everybody anyways. Mhm. So, regardless of if I got help, people would have died. A bunch of people, probably more than this time, because I was able to at least warn people about Alec. Cuz if I had just pulled the alarm, and Alec heard the alarm, he'd know instantly what that means, and he would just started opening fire in that classroom. I can like guarantee more people would be dead right now. Cuz I don't even know who's dead, but I know I didn't hear enough gunshots for what he's capable of doing. So, um there was a person killed yesterday at the school. Yes. And there were a lot of kids hurt at the school. Devon, I want you to tell me I want this to be your chance to tell me what happened. Cuz this is This is why I talked to you on my own at the hospital. And I appreciate that. All I can think about is Kendrick and everybody else. I heard gunshots. Cuz I keep hearing the gunshots. Devon, are you are you aware that this was all over the media? I I assume they would be out. So, this might be your last opportunity to kind of tell the world what happened. Yeah. What are you doing? Did you help Alec carry this thing? Only the person he made me. I gave up at every single point I could try to. At any point did you help her him go through this? I don't know what assistance I gave in any way. Give me my phone. The trigger pull was involuntary. I was yelling. I was trying to get people out of the classroom cuz it was the way that honestly, if I pulled the alarm and Alec knew that the alarm was going off and people start walking out of the hallways and they don't know there's a shooter, Alec would have probably killed a hell of a lot more people. >> Well, did you ever tell anybody to get out of the classroom? Yes, I did. Kendrick died a hero. He was just 18 years old, set to graduate in just a week's time and go to college to fulfill his dreams. That was snatched away from him all because of these two teenagers. Um Mr. Harper, I know there was eight people shot. Devon, what what do you think should happen to you? You got any help like who? I wasn't brave enough or thinking straight enough. I just can't help it. I thought I could do it on my own. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Do you think there should be punishment for you? Some, yeah. Just cuz I wasn't smart enough to get involved. All right. All right, Devon. I appreciate your time. All right. Ultimately, at trial, Devon continued to try to paint himself as an innocent victim trapped under the control of a younger teen. His sob story didn't work. He was convicted of 46 counts, including several attempted first-degree murders, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and sadly, first-degree murder for the death of Kendrick. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, as well as an additional 1,282 years behind bars, which, if you're wondering, is more than Jeffrey Dahmer was given. Alec played ball with the court a bit more, earning himself life with the chance of parole after 40 years, plus an additional 28 years in prison. This incident was a tragedy that could have been avoided. Our thoughts are with all of the victims, the heroes, and the family of Kendrick Castillo, who deserves to always be remembered for his brave actions. Thank you for watching today's video. Whether you're new here or have been with us for a while, check out one of the craziest cases I've ever covered right here or one of my newest uploads right here.