Deer Creek Middle School Shooting: Trial, Verdict, and Insanity Law

The Deer Creek Middle School shooting happened on the afternoon of February 23, 2010, when 32-year-old Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood, a former student with untreated paranoid schizophrenia, opened fire outside the Littleton, Colorado school with his father’s hunting rifle, wounding two eighth-graders before math teacher David Benke tackled him. A jury later found Eastwood not guilty by reason of insanity, and he was committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for a term of one day to life, where he remains.

What Happened That Afternoon

Students were leaving the school and boarding buses at about 3:14 p.m. when Eastwood opened fire in the parking lot with a bolt-action .30-06 hunting rifle that belonged to his father.¹ Earlier the same day, he had signed into the school, reportedly telling staff he was a former student.² When he arrived to shoot, he told a group of students “they were all going to die.”³

Two eighth-graders were hit. Reagan Weber was struck in the arm by shrapnel, treated at Littleton Adventist Hospital, and released the same day.⁴²⁵⁶

How a Teacher Stopped the Shooting

David Benke, a 57-year-old math teacher, was on parking lot duty. He first thought the sound was a firecracker. When he saw a man with a rifle, he charged, grabbed Eastwood from the front, and wrestled him until he dropped the weapon.⁷⁸

Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink told reporters that Benke’s actions stopped what “could have been a more tragic event.”⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²

Who Bruco Eastwood Was

Eastwood, nicknamed “Bo,” was the son of an Apache father and an Irish mother, and by many accounts his upbringing was marked by physical abuse and instability.³ He had a Colorado arrest record dating to 1996 for suspected menacing, assault, domestic violence, and driving under the influence.⁸

His mental illness went largely untreated for years. He was hospitalized in 2002 and diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder but did not continue his anti-psychotic medication. His symptoms progressed into full paranoid schizophrenia, marked by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking. He believed he was being invaded by “mutants” and “loser bugs” trying to devour him, and once believed a Nielsen rating box in his apartment was trying to control his thoughts.³ His father, Bruco War Eagle Eastwood, said his son often talked to imaginary friends, and that this had recently escalated to screaming and cursing at people who were not there.⁸ Psychiatric experts who later testified at trial said Eastwood’s planning was “totally based on delusional thought,” driven by his belief that his life was in danger from the “mutants.”

Charges, Trial, and the Insanity Verdict

Eastwood was initially charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and held on $1 million bond.² The charges were later expanded to four counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds.¹³

The three-week trial was held in Jefferson County District Court before Judge Laura Ann Tighe. Four psychiatric experts testified. Defense attorney Thea Reiff argued that Eastwood “heard voices that told him what to do” and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.¹³ On October 5, 2011, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity on the attempted murder charges. On the weapon-possession count, the jury found him guilty, and the judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison, deemed already served through pretrial custody.¹⁴

Following the insanity verdict, Eastwood was committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for a term of one day to life.¹³

The Fight Over Release Privileges

Since his commitment, Eastwood and his treatment team have repeatedly asked for expanded privileges. By 2015, a judge granted him limited off-grounds outings with a GPS monitor and staff supervision.¹⁴ In late 2017, his doctors applied for unsupervised off-grounds visits, including part-time employment and overnight stays with his mother several times a year. Clinical psychologist Dr. Robin McCann testified there had been no allegations of substance use, escape attempts, or abuse of existing privileges.¹⁵ Matt Thieu testified personally against the request, and the hospital ultimately withdrew the December 2017 application before the hearing.

A renewed application then went before Judge Tighe, who denied unsupervised leave on March 21, 2018. The judge found that despite years of therapy and medication, Eastwood continued to experience hallucinations, and that he did not acknowledge the connection between his anger and his crime. She quoted his own statement: “If someone chases me down and corners me… I will use as much self-defense as possible.”¹⁶

The ruling also raised concerns about Eastwood’s mother. According to the court, she had a history of physical abuse toward him, including kicking him as a child and allegedly attempting to stab him with scissors when he was 24, and she had failed to seek treatment for him when he first disclosed his hallucinations in 2002. She had also given him a book about the Columbine massacre while he was in the institute, without notifying his treatment providers. Judge Tighe called that decision “extremely troubling,” saying it was reckless to give “her son something that could potentially trigger severe symptoms” without consulting medical staff.¹⁷ First Judicial District Attorney Pete Weir and the victims’ families argued throughout the proceedings that the applications inadequately addressed public safety.¹⁶ Eastwood remains at the Pueblo facility under the indefinite commitment.

The Columbine Connection

Deer Creek Middle School sits on West Columbine Drive, roughly three miles from Columbine High School, where twelve students and a teacher were killed in April 1999. A spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department described the scene as triggering “déjà vu” for many in the community. The area had also endured a 2006 hostage crisis at Platte Canyon High School.¹⁸ Officials pointed to the extensive emergency drills conducted after Columbine and argued that the rapid response by school staff reflected that preparation.⁸

How Colorado’s Insanity Law Has Since Changed

In April 2026, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed SB26-014, a law modifying the state’s not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity framework. Effective July 2026, it establishes clearer standards for when insanity acquittees can be released from state hospitals into community placements, where they remain in state custody but receive clinical oversight outside the institution. It also requires courts to share mental health evaluations with the state hospital and directs that patients be placed in the “least restrictive setting that is appropriate,” according to State Senator Judy Amabile.¹⁹ The law does not name the Deer Creek case, but the pattern of Eastwood’s treatment team seeking expanded privileges while victims and prosecutors opposed them is the kind of conflict it aims to structure.

1
The Denver Post. 2 Students Shot, 1 Man Arrested at Deer Creek Middle School
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CNN. Colorado School Shooting
3
Findlaw. People v. Eastwood, Colorado Court of Appeals
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Westword. Reagan Weber, Deer Creek Middle School Shooting Victim, Gives School Authorities Two Thumbs Up
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The Denver Post. Deer Creek School Shooting Victim Joking, Chatting
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Sky-Hi News. Boy Hurt in Littleton School Shooting Thanks Teacher
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The Denver Post. Hailed as Hero, Math Teacher Leapt to Stop Attack
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NBC News. Teacher Tackles Gunman at Colorado School
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ABC News. Littleton Colorado School Shooting Miles From Columbine
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Los Angeles Times. Colorado School Shooting
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Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. David A. Benke
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The Denver Post. Carnegie Hero Fund Will Honor Jeffco Teacher Who Tackled Gunman
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The Denver Post. Deer Creek Middle Shooter Unsupervised Release
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Westword. School Shooter Bruco Eastwood Hearing for More Freedoms Canceled
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Denver7. Man Who Shot Two Students at Deer Creek Middle School Seeks Unsupervised Visits Off Hospital Grounds
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Patch. School Shooter Bruco Eastwood Denied Right to Unsupervised Leave
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The Denver Post. Bruco Eastwood Deer Creek Middle School Shooting Colorado Mental Health Institute
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ABC News. Deer Creek Middle School Shooting Reminds of Columbine Massacre
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KKTV. Changes to Colorado Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Defense Signed Into Law