DENVER >> A student shot and wounded two administrators at a Denver high school Wednesday morning after a handgun was found during a daily search of the boy that was being conducted because of behavioral issues, authorities said.

The 17-year-old suspect remained at large. Denver school officials, facing criticism over lax security, said they were putting armed officers into every high school.

The shooting occurred at a school shaken by frequent lockdowns and violence, including the killing of a classmate that prompted East High School students to march on the Colorado Capitol earlier this month. Parents who converged on the 2,500-student campus on Wednesday faulted officials for not doing enough to protect their children.

“I am sick of it,” said Jesse Haase, who planned to talk with her daughter about taking her out of classes for the rest of the school year.

Police were searching for Austin Lyle on charges of attempted homicide. The gun used in the shooting was not immediately recovered, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said.

Police issued an alert linking Lyle to a red 2005 Volvo X90 with Colorado plates and offered a reward up to $2,000 for information on the case.

The shooting happened just before 10 a.m. in an office area as the student was undergoing a search as part of a “safety plan” that required him to be patted down daily, officials said.

One of the wounded administrators remained in serious condition and the other was in good condition, said a spokesperson for Denver Health hospital. Both victims are male.

Thomas said police know where Lyle lives and believed they would apprehend him. “He obviously is armed and dangerous and willing to use the weapon, as we’ve learned this morning,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock warned.

Hundreds of students on March 3 skipped class and marched in support of stricter gun laws following the death of Luis Garcia, 16, who was shot while sitting in a car near the school.

There were no school resource officers on campus at the time of Wednesday’s shooting, Thomas said. But following the shooting, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero said two armed officers will be posted at East High School through the end of the school year.

In June 2020, amid a summer of protests over racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd, Denver Public Schools became one of the districts around the U.S. that decided to phase out its use of police officers in school buildings. That push was fueled by criticism that school resource officers disproportionately arrested Black students, sweeping them into the criminal justice system.