Relatives of Columbine Victims Urge Sheriff to Resign

At least four more parents of Columbine High School shooting victims called for the resignation of the sheriff over his actions after the April 20 massacre.

The four on Monday said Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone should resign out of respect for the families of victims in the wake of his decision to let the media view videotapes made by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before they stormed the school, fatally shooting 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.

“I don’t think he did things in the best interest of the community,” Patricia DePooter said at a news conference with the other parents.

DePooter, the mother of Corey DePooter, was joined by Darrell Scott, father of Rachel Scott; Rick Townsend, father of Lauren Townsend; and Tom Mauser, father of Daniel Mauser. The students were among those killed.

Also appearing at Trinity Christian Center, the site of four Columbine funerals, were the parents of two other Columbine victims and the daughter of slain teacher Dave Sanders.

Dale Todd, father of wounded victim Evan Todd, differed with most of the parents and said the sheriff should not resign.

“With a massacre of this magnitude, several errors will take place,” he said.

“We need to concentrate and move forward on some of the issues brought up by the shooting.”

But as a group, the parents denounced Stone’s decision to release the videotapes to the media and said they are working to keep the tapes from reaching the public.

“We don’t need to glorify these killers,” Todd said. “Everyone knows the names of Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, but nobody knows the names of their victims.”

Stone was out of town and unavailable for comment, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Davis said.

He released a statement saying, “The sheriff’s office and all of its employees sympathize with every victim and their families and we will continue to do the most professional job that we know how to do in investigating the events of April 20 of this year.”

Stone has previously defended his decision to allow reporters to view the tapes. He said he first allowed a Time magazine reporter to see the tapes because the reporter had agreed to use them only for background, a claim Time executives have denied.

The parents criticized Stone for his handling of threats of violence at Columbine before the massacre, for law enforcement’s response during the incident, for what they said was insufficient communication with the victims’ families.

Other victims’ parents, including Connie Michalik, whose son Richard Castaldo was paralyzed in the shooting, and Brian Rohrbough, father of slain victim Daniel Rohrbough, also have called for the sheriff’s resignation.