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Arapahoe High Teachers Return To Campus

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - Teachers and other faculty are back at the campus of Arapahoe High School for the first time since Friday's shooting.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson was inside the school and told CBS4's Rick Sallinger it was a very somber scene.

Claire Davis
Claire Davis (credit: Davis Family)

Even before going inside there were long, sorrowful hugs in the school parking lot. It was a teacher gunman Karl Pierson asked for when appearing with a shotgun, machete and Molotov cocktails.

The faculty was allowed to walk through the school, if they chose, and view where the incident took place.

Robinson also revealed on Tuesday that Pierson had written a Latin phrase and some numbers on his arm. They suspect he had plans to attack five areas of the school.

Officials found the body of Karl Pierson in the school's library after he shot and critically injured Claire Davis, 17. Pierson died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot.

Robinson said Pierson had used a marker to write "Alea iacta est" on his forearm. In English, that translates as "The Die Has Been Cast." It could mean "past the point of no return."

Seniors and juniors and will be able to retrieve belongings on Thursday. Sophomores and freshman will be allowed in on Friday. Counselors will be at the school to help students and staff deal with the violence. There will be no final exams or classes until after the first of the year.

Davis remains in a coma. She is in critical but stable condition. Cards and notes for her are now pouring into the Littleton Adventist Hospital. The hospital says it wants to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.

 

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