Episode 121 Douglas County Sheriff SRO James Englert: Tragedy at Arapahoe High School

2025-09-30

Today we sit down with former Arapahoe Deputy Sheriff and current Douglas County Sheriff in Colorado, and we discuss the epidemic of school shootings in America. We also want to stress the growing need for our schools to have resource officers in schools to protect what matters most to us….the children. James was on campus, as the SRO, at the Arapahoe High School on December 13th, 2013, when a disturbed teenager entered the school armed with a shotgun and Molotov cocktails and had a mission to murder the debate coach.

James was on campus, as the SRO, at the Arapahoe High School on December 13th, 2013, when a disturbed teenager entered the school armed with a shotgun and Molotov cocktails and had a mission to murder the debate coach.

12:30 p.m.: The teen suspect enters Arapahoe High School with a shotgun, a machete, and three Molotov cocktails. On his arm, he has written the Latin phrase "Alea iacta est" ("The die has been cast"), along with numbers corresponding to the library and nearby classrooms.

Around 12:33 p.m.: After the suspect fires one round down a hallway, he shoots 17-year-old student Claire Davis in the head as she sits at a table near the library with a friend. She is not his intended target. He then entered the library and threw the incendiary devices starting a fire.

12:34 p.m.: Officer James Englert and a security guard confronted the suspect, who then takes his own life with a gunshot to the head.

December 21, 2013: Eight days after the shooting, Claire Davis dies from her injuries. Shortly after Claire’s family asked James if he would be a pall bearer at her funeral, which he accepted.

A year after the shooting, an outdoor space calledClarity Commons is dedicated to Claire Davis's memory at the school.

James is an instructor and Vice President forNASRO (National Association for School Resource Officers).

Officer Englert also serves as the President of the “ I Love You Guys” Foundation.

Students face different challenges and pressures today than their parents; predators luring them over the internet; new, stronger drugs; sexting on cell phones.

Here are some of the current trends among young adults: