Sol Pais

Sol Leonina Pais (February 1, 2001 – April 15, 2019) was an American student who received national attention after she became the suspect in a large FBI manhunt in 2019. Pais had flown from Miami to Colorado and purchased a shotgun from a private dealer. After her parents informed authorities that she was missing, she was traced to Colorado. Police designated Pais as Armed and Dangerous; a BOLO alert was put out, and a large manhunt ensued.

After Pais was reported as missing, Miami police discovered her alleged infatuation with the Columbine High School massacre, particularly with its perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. With the 20th anniversary of the massacre about a week away, and Pais showing intent to purchase a shotgun in Colorado, police believed she was planning a copycat massacre around April 20. On April 15, she committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, before the manhunt began. Her body was found on April 17.

Biography Sol Pais was born on February 1, 2001, in Miami-Dade County, Florida to Argentine parents hailing from Buenos Aires. Her father, Gardi, is a musician. According to other students at Miami Beach Senior High School, Pais was very quiet and high-achieving academically. Pais was taking Honors English and Advanced Placement Studio Art classes and "did not strike classmates or teachers as deeply troubled".

Another student who shared a class with Pais stated, "I didn't believe it – I didn't understand it. She's so quiet. How could someone so quiet be like that?" Other students also described Pais as keeping mostly to herself, wearing baggy T-shirts, jeans and boots, and, often, earphones as she listened to music. She was reportedly a fan of KMFDM, a band frequently associated with Columbine due to Harris and Klebold also having been fans. In an entry from July 2018, she wrote, "I wish I could get a gun by the end of the summer." The journal also included drawings of firearms, a bloody knife, and a mention of dreaming about a shotgun. Pais appeared to have stopped writing journal entries in November 2018, but resumed in February 2019, in which she wrote, "The last few days have been especially painful and tumultuous, which kickstarted me again to start reviving my plans and getting on with them". The last journal entry is dated March 30, 2019. She received several answers on the forum, thanked the other users, and was able to purchase a shotgun in Colorado from a private seller. Pais then went to Miami International Airport, having bought three one-way tickets to Denver, Colorado days before. After arriving in Colorado later that morning, Pais bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition from a dealer in Littleton, Colorado, that she had previously been in contact with.

Manhunt

On April 16, the captain of the Miami Beach Police Department alerted agents with the FBI field office in Miami about a "potential school shooter who is infatuated with Columbine shooter Eric Harris". on April 17 that Pais had been discovered deceased in the mountains, claiming that "there is no longer a threat to the community." After Pais was confirmed to be deceased, school operations largely returned to normal in the Jefferson County area. Sheriff Jeff Shrader stated, "We want our schools to be a safe place for kids to learn and where they can be productive. And that's why we took this threat seriously". In 2021, the FBI agreed to implement changes in its system. In 2024, state lawmaker Tom Sullivan raised the case to argue for a mandatory waiting period for Colorado gun buyers.