Sheriff Releases Report on Columbine Shootings

Reading like a macabre itinerary of death, the official report of the Columbine shootings charts the minute-by-minute movements of the two teenage gunmen who launched their attack with the exhortation, “Go! Go!”--then with calm dispatch killed 13 people and wounded 21 in little more than 15 minutes.

One witness reported hearing a gunman shout during the shooting, “This is what we always wanted to do. This is awesome!”

After they killed, the shooters continued to roam the school, the report said, frustrated that many of their 95 homemade explosive devices had failed to detonate.

The report, released Monday by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, says the two never intended to enter the school but planned to remain outside and pick off students as they fled from the bombs.

The April 1999 lunchtime rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton ended after 45 minutes when the pair returned to the library, where they had murdered 10 students and injured 12 others in a 7 1/2-minute span. One of the shooters was heard to yell, “Yahoo!”

Sometime after noon the killers stood near the library windows and turned their guns on themselves. Outside, more than 600 law enforcement officers stood by waiting for orders.

No Analysis, No Self-Criticism

The sheriff’s office released the report without comment, citing pending litigation. Although it contains the most comprehensive details yet of the day’s events, the voluminous document offers few revelations and no analysis or criticism. It affirms that the gunmen acted alone and that there is no evidence that anyone knew of their plans. The report called the case “open.” Two people who helped provide the guns have been convicted and another may face charges.

Although the sheriff’s report offers no conclusions, a Columbine Review Commission appointed by Gov. Bill Owens will do so. The 20-member panel will review the sheriff’s report and issue its own findings a year from now.

The report came 13 months after the worst school shooting in U.S. history. Its disclosure was spurred by lawsuits. About 15 victims’ families have filed suit against the sheriff’s office charging wrongful death and civil rights violations. One family has charged that a sheriff’s deputy--not Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold--killed their son in a shootout outside the school.

The report was released on CD-ROM and runs to 700 printed pages. Culled from 10,000 pieces of evidence, 5,000 interviews and hours of video and audiotape, the report offers a grim view into the killers’ doomsday plan that, had two poorly made bombs gone off, could have killed all 488 people in the cafeteria and scores elsewhere.

For families of the victims and their attorneys, the report was significant more for what it didn’t contain: answers.

“The report is an attempt to overwhelm with detail what is essentially a very simple case,” said Barry Arrington, an attorney who represents six families who are suing the sheriff’s office. “The thing that is missing is simply this--one single word of self-criticism. There’s a clear conflict of interest here: The agency that’s under review says its actions were appropriate.”

Judy Brown, whose son was at school but unhurt, said she suspects some information was withheld in the sheriff’s report.

“I’m expecting the same thing we’ve gotten for the last year,” she told reporters. “I’m hoping I’m wrong. [They are] going to release the best version of this that is going to do the best for their lawsuit.”

The report became instant fodder for the civil suits as well as those who have been critical of the actions of the sheriff’s department beginning the day of the shootings.

Sheriff John Stone has been under fire for initially overestimating the number of fatalities and for allegations that he poorly directed the actions of the SWAT teams. There have also been a series of gaffes, including the release to Time magazine of tapes left by the killers and the release and sale last month of videotapes that showed graphic images of the carnage set to music.

Stone--who is facing a recall petition--has defended the actions of law enforcement and has called the criticism “outrageous.”

According to the report, Harris and Klebold launched their attack at 11:17 a.m. on April 20, 1999, after bombs they had planted in the busy school cafeteria failed to explode. The pair’s intention was for diversionary bombs nearby to draw authorities away from campus. They hoped that bombs they placed in the school earlier that morning would send students and staff rushing out of the building, where they could be picked off.

Harris and Klebold decided to enter the building when the bombs in the cafeteria failed to detonate. The two left their booby-trapped cars in the parking lot and, wearing long black dusters that concealed their weapons, marched toward the school and began shooting at 11:19. The last victim was shot at 11:34.

Two students were killed and six were wounded outside the school as Harris and Klebold began their attack. Two more students were shot inside the west doors and another student was shot in the main hallway. By then, the report said, teachers and others were rushing through the school, dashing into classrooms and shouting warnings.

Teacher Dave Sanders was shot as he was ushering students to safety. He was pulled into a science classroom where students, including two Eagle Scouts, administered first aid and fashioned a sign, “1 bleeding to death” and placed it in a window. A SWAT team reached Sanders 3 1/2 hours later. Sanders died.

The report says that Neil Gardner, the school’s safety officer, was eating lunch in his patrol car when the shooting began. He was alerted to the trouble by a school custodian who radioed, “Neil, I need you in the back lot.”

Gardner drove to the back of the school and Harris shot at him 10 times, the report said. When Harris’ gun jammed, Gardner returned fire and Harris raced into the school.

Pair Carried Explosives

Both Harris and Klebold were heavily armed, the report says, and fired 188 rounds. Each carried a shotgun. Harris had a 9mm carbine and Klebold had a TEC-9 semiautomatic handgun. They carried several knives and had large amounts of ammunition in utility belts. The report said the pair had explosives in backpacks and duffel bags.

A total of 30 devices exploded in the school and 46 devices were found unexploded.

The gunmen’s yearbooks, videotapes, journals and computer files listed 67 people they disliked for various reasons, but only one of those people was wounded, “and there is no evidence that he was specifically targeted on April 20,” the report said.

Although not directly addressing the motive of the killers, the report painted a picture of two anger-filled youths seeking revenge for social slights. It also contained passages from Harris’ journal and Klebold’s day-planner, detailing a to-do list for April 20.

Along with his math homework, authorities found this entry from Klebold on April 19: “About 26.5 hours from now the judgment will begin. Difficult but not impossible, necessary, nervewracking & fun. What fun is life without a little death?”

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Researcher Belen Rodriguez contributed to this story.