BAILEY, Colo. -- Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said Thursday that the gunman who took student hostages at Platte Canyon High School mailed a 14-page letter just before his death.

Duane Morrison wrote "This is not a suicide note or diary."

"However, many times, the letter references suicide. This letter clearly acknowledges his pending death. It also apologizes to his family for his actions that will occur," Wegener said.

The suicide note did not mention Bailey, Platte Canyon High School, or any school, and does not mention any plan to take hostages and does not contain the names of any students.

"No reference to harming anyone is mentioned in the letter," Wegener said. "It talks in there about how he felt safe in school and it looks like he's referring to when he was in school. But it really doesn't say this school or a school."

However, the gunman said his family would probably be angry with him because of publicity surrounding the end of his life.

The letter was postmarked Sept. 27 from Shawnee Post Office, about a mile from Platte Canyon High School. It would mean the letter was mailed just before Morrison went to the school to take hostages since he arrived at the school around 11 a.m. that day. The letter was delivered the next day to the gunman's brother, who turned it over to authorities.

"It doesn't tell me a lot of why. But it does tell me that the conclusion of events of the 27th may have been my worst fears -- that he probably intended to kill both the young ladies and then kill himself, or have us shoot him," Wegener said.

The hand-written, rambling letter was written over several days and "takes a lot of different directions," detectives said. 7NEWS has learned from sources that Morrison indicated that he was physically abused as a child and had complained of pain -- although it's not clear if it was physical or emotional pain.

The letter has raised a lot more questions than answers but whether or not the attack on Platte Canyon High School was random or planned, the sheriff said the big picture is starting to narrow but it's too early to conclude one way or another.

"He was going to do something, there's no doubt about that. It said that in the letter. He says something was going to happen. He talks about the fact that his family is not going to proud of what he's done. He writes this 14-page letter. So yeah, he has planned out something but I can't say he pinpointed Platte Canyon High School," Wegener said.

Morrison, a 53-year-old drifter with a minor criminal history, was apparently living at a motel on Colfax Avenue, 7NEWS reported.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traced ownership of the Glock handgun used in the killing to Morrison's brother in Colorado, who then said he'd received what appeared to be a suicide note.

Wegener said Thursday afternoon that preliminary reports show that an AR-15 assault rifle found at a makeshift campground along the South Platte River, about a mile east of the school, also belonged to Morrison. The rifle had been found inside a case, Wegener said.

Morrison had a 357-magnum revolver and Glock when he died and was not wearing a "hoodie" when he entered the school, as previously reported.

"He was wearing a simple sweatshirt," Wegener said.

Wegener Defends SWAT Team's Actions

"Today I sense a trend in the media that some are beginning to second-guess my decision and the tactics used by the first responders and the Jefferson County regional SWAT team. Until all of the information supportive to our actions can be shared publicly, I ask you to be patient and respectful of your reporting," Wegener said Thursday afternoon.

"I'm urging you to remember that these brave men and women had to make a life-and-death decision within a split second and did so without hesitation. These men and women did not consider themselves courageous nor heroic, but I do. They will not celebrate this event because of the many lives saved. Instead, they will mourn the senseless loss of Emily Keyes," Wegener said. "I want these brave men and women to understand that I support their decision."

As for the hostages, Wegener said, "The girls are having a tough time."

Hostage Recalls Ordeal

One of six hostages taken by Duane R. Morrison at Platte Canyon High School on Wednesday said the gunman seemed to single out Emily Keyes -- the girl he eventually killed -- and appeared to know her father.

Wegener said there was no connection between the gunman and the victim's father.

In the report, published by the Rocky Mountain News, a hostage said she was groped above the waist by Morrison. She told the newspaper that Morrison molested other girls in the room as well and Emily Keyes "got it worse."

She said she was afraid to look, "But you could hear Emily saying, 'No. Please don't."'

She said all the girls were told to stand facing a wall and she could not see what Morrison was doing. But she knew the other girls were being molested because "you could hear the rustling of clothes and elastic being snapped and zippers being opened and closed."

The girl told the newspaper that she could hear the SWAT team outside the classroom and thought about action movies she had seen in the past.

"I imagined that a group of SWAT team guys would bust through the windows. Or that I could fight off the gunman with a kick in the groin," she said. "But that just happens in the movies. I guess it doesn't quite work that way in real life."

Another of the hostages during Wednesday's ordeal told her family the gunman stormed into class, threw his backpack on a desk, then lined up students and dismissed them one by one -- boys first and heavier girls. Eventually, he told the girls who were left to use their cell phones to call their parents.

"That's how my mom got the call," the 13-year-old sister of the hostage told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Her mother said the family did not want to be identified because it might further traumatize the former hostage.

"She was crying," the girl said of her 15-year-old sister. "My mom couldn't really hear her."

Student Chelsea Wilson said she was in same English class when Morrison came in and told the students to line up facing the chalkboard.

"All the hairs on my body stood up," Chelsea said. "I guess I was somewhat praying it was a drill."

One by one, the gunman started letting students go, and Chelsea, a tall brunette, said she was the first girl to leave. Her mother, Julia Wilson, said she thinks the gunman made all the blond, smaller girls stay.

Chelsea said she heard what might have been a gunshot after she left the classroom.

"He's a pervert," Chelsea said. "I'm not sure of motivation. I just knew it wasn't good."

On Friday, Wegener said all of the girls held hostage were molested "in one form or another."

Another student reported that Morrison was sitting in the parking lot of the school on Wednesday morning and was asking about students.

"It looked like a parent going to pick up one of his kids so we didn't think nothing of it," said a student.

Authorities confirmed that surveillance tapes show the gunman was in the parking lot for about 20 minutes before he entered the school and took hostages.

Students, Staff Get Vehicles

Nearly all the students who left vehicles in the school parking lot or on the school grounds at Platte Canyon went to school Friday to retrieve them. The students had to show identification and registration to prove they own the vehicles.

Some students also picked up backpacks and personal items that they abandoned when they had to evacuate suddenly on Wednesday. Items left in Rooms 201, 203, 206, 210, the media room and the pod area are still being held. Room 206 is where the gunman held his hostages.

The superintendent said teachers will return to Fitzsimmons Middle School and Platte Canyon High School early next week and students will return later in the week, although no specific dates were released.

"The focus of the Platte Canyon School District is on healing and recovery. We are making plans to determine how we can resume education for our students as quickly as possible," said Superintendent Jim Walpole.

Extra-curricular activities will resume next week, beginning with the football game on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m.

The school set up a Web site to alert students and staff to the latest. It is plattecanyonschoolsinfo.org.

Anyone seeking counseling can contact Pikes Peak Mental Health at 866-367-9790 or 303-816-5978.

Wegener said there will be a candlelight service Friday night at Platte Canyon Community Church. A motorcycle group will hold a benefit ride for the Keyes family from Columbine High School to Platte Canyon High School, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 7. And the Boy Scouts were hosting a spaghetti lunch at noon at the church.

Parent Gets Text Message

The father of Emily Keyes received a text message from his daughter a short time before she was killed.

John Keyes was standing at the Park County roadblock on Highway 285 and sent his daughter a message that said "R U O.K.?"

At 1:52, Emily Keyes replied with "I love U guys."

It was the last communication John Keyes received from her.

He had just purchased Emily's cell phone for her 16th birthday and a reporter for the local newspaper helped him send the text message while he waited at the roadblock with other parents.

A community memorial service for Emily Keyes was scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Farmers Union in Bailey.

"I love U guys" is now the name of the memorial fund set up in Emily's memory. Click here to learn more about the fund and about the memorial service. In addition, a community gathering was set for Sunday night at the Farms Union, starting at 5 p.m.

"In memory of Emily we would like everyone to go out and do random acts of kindness, random acts of love to your friends or your neighbors or your fellow students because there is no way to make sense of this," said a family spokesman. "It's what Emily would have wanted."

"It's not just the Keyes who lost their child," said Bobbie Sterling, manager of the Cutthroat Cafe where Emily worked. "The whole community lost a child."

"It's a healing process that will take some time but I couldn't be more proud to be part of this community," Wegener said.

He also said Platte Canyon High would host a football game on Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m.

Student Apologizes For Lie

A Platte Canyon High School student appared on national television for the second day in a row Friday. This time, he apologized for making up a story about his experiences during Wednesday's hostage stand-off.

Cassidy Grigg, 16, appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and other national news programs and said he confronted Morrison and was ordered to leave the classroom at gunpoint.

Grigg's mother later said he admitted making up the story.

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