Dark day in Montrose: Student assaulted at high school

MONTROSE — Police are mustering their case against a 14-year-old Montrose boy they say assaulted a Montrose High School junior with a weapon Tuesday morning.

The attack occurred in the main hall of the high school, shortly before morning classes began. Mallory Haulman, 17, was entering the school with her sister when she was reportedly attacked from behind with a straight-edged weapon.

There were several witnesses, including school staffers, who rushed to her aid. Mallory was taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital with injuries to her neck. She was released from surgery in serious condition yesterday, and was at the time recovering in the intensive care unit.

Mallory is the daughter of Daily Press Production Manager Denny Haulman and Alicia Haulman, an ICU nurse.

"I'm just kind of stunned," Daily Press Publisher Stephen Woody said. "It could have been my daughter. The Haulmans are about as good a family as I ever came across. They merit our prayers."

Woody said later Tuesday night that the girl was alert and sitting up in bed. Her friends and teammates were planning a candlelight vigil.

Her alleged attacker, whose name has not been released, fled the school grounds, but was spotted by a patrol officer who'd just heard the suspect's description aired. The officer cornered the teen at Townsend and South Third Street.

"As soon as he saw the police car, he was running," Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn said. "By the time I arrived, he was proned out on the ground" and cuffed.

Chinn said investigators were still trying to determine a motive. It wasn't known whether the two young people knew one another.

"We've interviewed a lot of people today. Our guys are really busy. We've taken a lot of evidence in this case," he said.

Chinn would not say what weapon was used, other than a "straight-edged weapon," or whether it was recovered.

Montrose High was locked down shortly after the incident, then closed for the day. Teachers shepherded students to waiting buses or to the parking lot to await rides.

At least one girl was in tears and was consoled by her friends.

The alleged assailant was not enrolled at Montrose High, Superintendent George Voorhis said.

The boy had been placed in various other schools, including alternative facilities and in Grand Junction.

"Our main goal is to get the girl to safety and take care of our students," Voorhis said.

The school is reviewing its surveillance video, he said. "The kid came in off the street. ... Now we want to go back and ask, 'Could we have been more proactive.' We don't think we can.”

"We don't know why the kid did what he (allegedly) did."

Voorhis said there was a recommendation that the boy "not be in school," but he couldn't say what other schools might have done.

Woody said Mallory was involved in MHS softball and other school activities. She also assists in landscaping work at the Daily Press. "She's just a good kid; about a good a kid as I've ever come across," Woody said. "(She's) polite, a good student, conscientious."

The boy was being held in custody Tuesday. Charges have yet to be filed, and are at the discretion of the district attorney's office. Chinn said that pending the outcome of the investigation, the boy could face first-degree assault, or even stiffer charges.

"We're in the very infancy of this investigation," he said. "There could be a whole laundry list (of charges)."