What to Know
- Authorities are searching for 18-year-old Sol Pais, of Surfside, who traveled to Colorado on Monday night
- Police said Pais made threats to more than 20 schools, including Columbine High School
The father of a South Florida woman suspected of making threats against multiple schools in Colorado, including Columbine High School, is begging for his daughter to come home and turn herself in.
Authorities are searching for 18-year-old Sol Pais, of Surfside, who traveled to Colorado on Monday night. Police said she made threats to more than 20 schools, including Columbine High School, just days before the 20-year mark of the mass shooting that killed 13 people.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the FBI say Pais bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition.
BREAKING: “Disbelief”- Father of south Florida teen accused of making credible threats against Denver schools and Columbine encourages Sol Pais to turn herself in. @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/UgUchtvj66
— Jamie Guirola (@jamieNBC6) April 17, 2019
"It's like a bad dream," Pais' father told NBC 6 Tuesday. "We don't know, we don't have any idea."
Colorado police agencies said Pais is "infatuated with the Columbine school shooting." She is attempting to buy firearms and should be considered armed and dangerous, they said.
Pais' father said he hasn't seen his daughter since Sunday.
Local
Detectives were out investigating Pais’ home Tuesday evening. Officials have not confirmed where Pais was traveling from or where she came from, but multiple neighbors told NBC 6 she lives in Surfside with her parents and sister and attended Miami Beach High School.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools confirmed Pais attends the school, but said there have been no threats made to schools in the county and said officials are working with the FBI.
The information prompted what schools referred to as a "lockout" at Columbine High School and several others outside Denver. All students were safe, school officials said. A lockout means the exterior doors of the schools were locked, but business went on as usual inside.
Denver-area public schools will be closed Wednesday as all schools in the area were urged to tighten security because the threat was deemed "credible and general," said Patricia Billinger, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
Authorities said Pais was last seen near Columbine -- in the Jefferson County foothills outside Denver -- wearing a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots. They appealed for anyone seeing her to call an FBI tip line at 303-630-6227, and said she is too dangerous to be approached by civilians. The alert also said police who come into contact with her should detain her and evaluate her mental health.
