In the wake of the Evergreen High School shooting on September 10, parents across Colorado are asking the same question: Could it have been prevented?
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is running for governor in 2026, says questions like that go all the way back to the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, where the modern conversation about prevention began. “People had heard about what those kids were planning,” Weiser says of the Columbine shooting that left thirteen students and one teacher dead. “But they didn’t know where to share the information.”
Safe2Tell was designed to fill that gap. Launched as a nonprofit with backing from then-Attorney General Ken Salazar in 2004, the program was moved into the AG’s office in 2014. Its premise is simple: create a safe, anonymous way for students, parents, or staff to report threats and concerns such as potential shootings, bullying, suicidal thoughts, or drugs at school.
Reports come in through an app, text, email or a phone hotline. Within two minutes, Weiser says, the information is sent to both the school district and local law enforcement. Who acts on the reports depends on the situation: a principal might respond to bullying, while police take over if there’s a weapon, a suicide threat or if the school is closed. “They receive the report right away,” Weiser says. “And they decide the reaction right away.”
The AG says Safe2Tell’s usage has grown steadily over the years as mass shootings have become more common. When Weiser first took office in 2019, Safe2Tell handled under 20,000 reports a year. Today, that number is more than 30,000, according to his office.
“We know it’s making real impact, and it is saving lives,” Weiser says, pointing to monthly press releases highlighting examples of suicide interventions, confiscated weapons and teachers investigated for misconduct. The August 2025 report, for example, highlighted a bullying intervention and an incident of harassment on social media.
“We don’t have a control group where Safe2Tell doesn’t exist,” he says. “What we do have are real stories.”
The program is now embedded in Colorado schools. Student ID cards list the hotline. Training is offered for educators and school resource officers. Weiser’s office even gives out “gold star” and “platinum” awards to schools that build strong safety cultures.
But that hasn’t ended violence at schools or stopped high-profile incidents, and Evergreen has raised tough questions. The school had no full-time resource officer the day that a student opened fire on campus, putting two schoolmates in the hospital; the assigned deputy was out on medical leave. And while investigators are still combing through what led to the attack, during which the sixteen-year-old shooter killed himself, another question lingers: If someone knew something, did they know where to take it?
Parents sometimes wonder if Safe2Tell is just for kids, Wesier says. It isn’t.
“Absolutely, parents can use it,” Weiser says. “I’ve heard parents tell their kids, ‘If you don’t report this to Safe2Tell, I will.’”
But “the challenge,” Weiser continues, “is that in a situation like Evergreen, maybe no one did say anything. Or no one knew. And if we don’t know, we can’t help prevent tragedy.”
Colorado’s history with school shootings — from Columbine to Arapahoe to STEM Highlands Ranch and now Evergreen — looms large over these conversations. In that context, Safe2Tell is one of the few lasting reforms: a clear place to send information, with legal protections for anonymity and a direct pipeline to schools and law enforcement.
Weiser says the job now is to keep reinforcing that culture. “Talk to your kids about Safe2Tell,” he urges. “Put the number in your phone. Know that tips can be anonymous. Use it for threats, for bullying, for mental health struggles. If you see something or hear something that’s a potential threat to kids, please say something.”
For parents rattled by Evergreen, that may be the most important reminder.