DENVER - A man who knew Duane Morrison says the man who fatally shot a 16-year-old girl at Platte Canyon High School before shooting himself was soft spoken and kept to himself.
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"I was shocked that it was Duane," said Jesse Williams, the former maintenance supervisor at the Kimberly Ann Apartments, the complex where Morrison lived for four to five years until April.
Morrison took several female students hostage at the school Wednesday. When SWAT officers moved into the classroom he was holed up in he shot Emily Keyes in the head before he turned his gun on himself.
Williams, who now works at another complex, says he was surprised Morrison was behind with the hostage situation. "I didn't really expect it from him."
"I really didn't see it coming," Williams said. "He was pretty soft spoken, kind of kept to himself most of the time."
Williams says he met Morrison in 2000 when Morrison was having problems with some pipes.
"He was a pretty personable fellow," said Williams. "I thought it was kind of odd that he would lay sheets down for me to walk on when I came into his apartment."
Williams says Morrison's apartment was immaculate and closed off.
"He always kept one of his bedroom doors closed, all the time. I didn't think anything about it. It's none of my business to go in there and check out his business," Williams said.
Williams says he and Morrison built a rapport over time and at one point he saw Morrison had several guns.
"I saw all these guns. I was a little taken back by it," said Williams. "Had to be at least 30 of them (guns) that he had."
"I asked him if he'd ever been in law enforcement, why he would have that many guns. He said, 'I just like guns. I like to shoot them.' I just kind of brushed it off."
Williams says Morrison was strange, but did not think he was dangerous. "No real flags went up saying he was a danger to other people," he said.
Williams says Morrison was also attracted to younger girls. "Any time there was a girl at the pool he was out there, (he) never failed (to go out there). I gave him a hard time about it one time. I said, 'If there is a girl out there, you're out there, aren't you Duane?' He just laughed and smiled," said Williams.
Williams says there were also times Morrison was depressed. "He had been depressed a few times, I talked to him and I could tell he was down," he said.
"Most kind of people I think of when I think of someone doing something like that, someone who's off the rocker, he didn't seem off his rocker at all. (Just a) little down, lonely guy," said Williams.
