Two students opened fire Tuesday inside a charter school in an affluent suburb of Denver killing a teenager, wounding eight and spreading terror before they were taken into custody, authorities said.

AP reported that according to the Douglas County Sheriff, Tony Spurlock, the pair walked into the STEM School Highlands Ranch and began shooting students in two classrooms. Within minutes, deputies at a nearby sheriff's department substation entered the school and arrested the two suspects after a struggle.

Authorities identified one of the suspects late Tuesday as 18-year-old Devon Erickson. Spurlock said the second suspect is a juvenile and that both attended the school. They were not previously known to authorities, he said.

"I have to believe that the quick response of the officers that got inside that school helped save lives," Spurlock said.

Police blocked off traffic in a Highlands Ranch neighborhood Tuesday evening and appeared to be searching a home. Sheriff's officials would not confirm whether the search was connected to the shooting.

This recent shooting has taken place exactly a week after a gunman killed two students and wounded four at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. And nearly three weeks after neighboring Littleton marked the grim 20th anniversary of the Columbine school massacre that killed 13 people. The two schools are separated by about 11 kilometers in adjacent communities south of Denver.