2 Gunmen Had Help, Police Fear

Police on Thursday found a large propane tank bomb in the kitchen area of Columbine High School and said it now appears “the chances are very, very great” that others may have helped two teenage students carry out the rampage that left 13 innocent people here dead.

Authorities said the discovery of the 20-pound tank containing gas and rigged with duct tape, wires and a mechanical timer suggests that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had wanted to do more than just shoot fellow students and teachers: They may have hoped to destroy the school.

Police also revealed that the two gunmen--who killed themselves during the Tuesday siege--left a note that apparently discusses their thoughts going into the worst high school shooting in U.S. history.

In addition, juvenile court reports show that authorities just two months ago considered Harris “a bright young man who is likely to succeed in life,” and thought Klebold “intelligent enough to make any dream a reality.”

Police also recovered a videotape made by the shooters in which they eerily acted out their rampage, and officials said they believe Harris and Klebold may have been inspired by a movie called “The Basketball Diaries,” in which a youth in a long black trench coat shoots up a classroom. The pair chose the same garb for Tuesday’s massacre.

The propane tank bomb was hidden inside a duffel bag and appeared to be wired to explode, authorities said, but it was unclear how long it had been there and who had placed it.

Said Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone: “I don’t know how just two people could have brought this in here. And any involvement in planning this thing, in helping assist this thing, is considered first-degree murder.”

Sgt. Jim Parr, a sheriff’s spokesman, said the explosive was the size of a propane tank normally used for a home barbecue grill. Had it blown, he said, “it would have been devastating.”

The bomb was described as very crudely made. Also inside the duffel bag were model rocket engines and firecrackers, officials said.

‘It’s Possible They Had Confederates’

Parr added that because of the size of the tank and the other components, “it’s possible they had confederates and it’s possible they made two trips into the school. So we’re not ruling out there were other people. That’s a distinct possibility.”

Added Deputy Steve Davis: “We certainly think there’s a very good chance we have more than two people [involved].”

He stressed, however, that “we don’t have a third shooter yet,” and that authorities are re-interviewing about 100 students to determine how far the gunmen may have reached in drawing others into their plot.

Harris and Klebold were members of the so-called Trench Coat Mafia at Columbine, a small group who wore dark clothing and were fascinated with violent video games. Viewed as outcasts, they often openly expressed jealousy toward popular student athletes, their classmates said.

The pair clearly were determined to spread havoc at the school, shooting four firearms and tossing more than 30 smaller pipe bombs and other explosive devices throughout the two-story building. Only three of the bombs exploded. They were fashioned with nails and BBs that, upon explosion, sent shrapnel flying.

Twelve students and a teacher were killed; 23 other students were injured. Police said Harris and Klebold finally turned their guns on themselves.

Despite heavy snow Thursday, dozens of people left flowers, stuffed animals and cards at a makeshift memorial in a park near the school. The mementos were piled 2 feet high.

Officials Thursday defended law enforcement and rescue workers against criticism that it had taken them two days to discover the propane tank bomb, saying that searching the campus has been a slow and careful process.

The numerous small explosive devices had to be isolated and defused by bomb experts. There also are hundreds of backpacks that were dropped by students fleeing the school that now must be carefully opened and inspected for potential evidence. All of those backpacks, boxes and briefcases must be X-rayed first for possible bombs, bomb components or other weapons.

“We will literally have thousands and thousands of pieces of evidence and it will take days” to categorize it and then review the material, Davis said. “Every time you talk to one person, they’ll tell you two or three more names, so it branches out from there.”

Authorities declined to discuss specifics of the note found at Harris’ home. But they did say it includes language that may shed light on the mind set of Harris, 18, and his 17-year-old friend, Klebold.

“I don’t know if it’s a suicide note or what it is,” Davis said.

The juvenile court records, dated Feb. 3, suggest that local court officials evaluated the duo and determined them to be fairly well adjusted.

Pair Were Arrested for Theft in 1998

Harris and Klebold were arrested in January 1998 for stealing items from a van. They were placed in a yearlong juvenile court diversion program, which they completed two months ago.

“Eric did a very nice job” in the diversion program, the report said. “He did enjoy completing the Anger Mgmt. [session] which seemed to fit nicely with the individual counseling he was involved with. Eric excelled in school and never had any problems in this area.”

His prognosis was listed as “good.”

“Eric is a very bright young man who is likely to succeed in life. He is intelligent enough to achieve lofty goals as long as he stays on task and remains motivated.”

Klebold also was given a “good” prognosis.

“Dylan did a very nice job on diversion,” the report said. “Dylan had a tendency to struggle with motivation around school work so we focused on this area for some time. He was able to maintain a good grade point average after some confrontation and is set to graduate in Spring 1999.

The report continued: “Dylan is a bright young man who has a great deal of potential. If he is able to tap his potential and become self motivated he should do well in life.

”. . . He needs to strive to self motivate himself so he can remain on a positive path. He is intelligent enough to make any dream a reality but he needs to understand hard work is part of it.”

The two friends last fall made a video for a class at Columbine that featured them wearing trench coats and shooting student athletes, according to several students who recalled the project.

The students said Harris and Klebold pretended they were gunmen and had their friends play athletes. School officials declined to discuss the video, and the tape was turned over to police.

“They walked around in this video and they acted out what they eventually carried out,” said Lt. John Klekbusch.

One of the more disturbing things to some is that the young gunmen came from what neighbors described as respected middle-class families.

Klebold lived with his parents in an expensive cedar-and-glass home with a matching guest house tucked between two huge stone formations on a rural road.

Klebold’s father, Thomas, a retired geophysicist who consulted with companies exploring gas and oil, now runs a mortgage management business from his home. The youth’s mother, Susan, has worked for the Colorado community college system for years, helping disabled students gain access to education, neighbors said.

Harris and his family moved to Littleton in 1996 from Plattsburgh, N.Y., where his father, Wayne, was an Air Force pilot. In Littleton, the elder Harris worked for a flight-safety business; his wife, Katherine, worked for a catering business, according to the juvenile court documents.

The families were avoiding reporters, but both issued statements expressing sympathy for the victims.

Murder Weapons Traced, Police Say

Authorities announced Thursday that they had traced the firearms reportedly used in the shooting, but they did not reveal where or how the youths had obtained the weapons.

The firearms were a handgun, rifle and two shotguns.

The semi-automatic handgun is considered popular among criminals and is the same type used in the 1993 attack at a San Francisco law firm that left eight people dead, according to sources in the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The handgun is a version of the Intratec TEC-9, which is an illegal assault weapon in California.

The rifle is a Hi Point 9-millimeter carbine. Of the two sawed-off shotguns, one was was a double-barrel model and the other was a pump-action type. Officials said the barrels of both shotguns were sawed off about as far as they could be, increasing their firepower.

In other developments Thursday, the National Rifle Assn., which had been planning a three-day national convention in Denver next week, scaled down its schedule to one day. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb had demanded that the NRA cancel the event.

Webb said canceling the convention is the “only decent” thing to do under the circumstances. “I shouldn’t even have to suggest to them to do what everybody knows is just common decency.”

The NRA said Wednesday it will cancel its seminars and gun show, leaving only its annual business meeting and a reception; on Thursday it also canceled the reception.

And Atty. Gen. Janet Reno visited the area and talked with rescue workers, students and others, urging the nation to view the tragedy as a message for improving school safety.

“Let us look at this example, and see what we can do to end the culture of violence in this country,” she said.

In Washington, Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said the Clinton administration will push for a broad range of legislative reforms, such as the creation of a “juvenile Brady Bill” outlawing gun sales to any adult convicted of a violent offense as a minor.

He also said mandatory trigger locks on guns would prevent adolescents from access to dangerous weapons.

“The environment is there for significant reforms,” Holder said.

Meanwhile, at schools scattered across the country, several students have been arrested in incidents of violence, threats or mocking of the Littleton massacre, and authorities continued to express concern about “copycats.”

And entertainment industry executives, reacting to concerns about how popular entertainment may have contributed to the mayhem, announced plans to postpone concerts and pull back some potentially offensive products.

*

Times staff writers Steve Berry in Los Angeles and Eric Lichtblau in Washington contributed to this story.

Updates on the investigation into the Columbine High School shootings are available on The Times’ Web site: https://www.latimes.com/shootings

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Killers’ Arsenal

Weapons and explosives found so far in the Columbine High School shooting:

* 30 homemade bombs, including a powerful propane bomb made from a 20-pound tank wrapped with duct tape and wire, 6- to 8-inch pipe bombs, explosives rigged to timing devices

* One Hi Point 9-millimeter carbine

* One double-barrel sawed-off shotgun

* One pump-action sawed-off shotgun

* One semi-automatic handgun

* At least 100 rounds of ammunition

More on Tragedy Inside

* TOWN IN PAIN--The grief in Littleton, Colo., is so great that emergency workers and counselors are getting therapy. A26

* ASSEMBLY VOTE--The California Assembly has narrowly approved a measure to limit the supply of handguns in the state. A3

* SHOWS PULLED--TV episodes have been pulled in reaction to the shootings. A30

* CLINTON MEETING--The president discusses school violence, and his own political travails, at a high school in Virginia. A30

* ARRESTS--Several students around the nation have been arrested after violent incidents. A28

* BLAMING TV, MOVIES--An old refrain is being sounded, writes columnist Howard Rosenberg: If it’s bad, TV or movies caused it. F1