A Florida woman said to be obsessed with the 1999 massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School has reportedly died after a massive FBI manhunt.
Authorities said Sol Pais, 18, made disturbing remarks about Columbine as Saturday’s 20th anniversary of the shooting approached and was apparently “infatuated with the perpetrators.” She flew to Colorado on Monday, purchasing a pump-action shotgun after landing, and was considered armed and dangerous before she was found dead, Denver’s local CBS affiliate reported, citing a law enforcement source in Clear Creek County. The FBI’s Denver office later wrote on Twitter that the manhunt had ended.
Authorities had stressed that while Pais had made no specific threats on area schools, they considered her a threat to the community. Accordingly, many Colorado school districts canceled classes Wednesday, telling staff and students to stay home.
“Because of her comments and her actions, because of her travel here to the state, because of her procurement of a weapon immediately upon arriving here, we consider her to be a credible threat certainly to the community and potentially to schools,” said Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips of the FBI’s Denver office. “We have no specific information about any specific threat to any specific school. We don’t have that sort of credible information, but we do consider her to be a credible threat to the community.”
Authorities said Pais took an Uber to the Echo Lake area near the base of Mount Evans, where she was found deceased. Between 20 and 30 armed officers, including a SWAT team, were involved in the search for her near the Echo Lake Campground.
The FBI and Jefferson County Sheriff’s office are directing the investigation and have promised more information is forthcoming.