Columbine Parents Decry Diary Publication

The parents of Columbine gunman Eric Harris said Friday they were horrified by the publication of their son’s journal, fearing it could inspire copycat attacks.

Wayne and Kathy Harris issued the statement through their attorney, Benjamin Colkitt, after journal excerpts were published in several newspapers this week.

Colkitt said that neither he nor the Harrises would comment beyond the two-paragraph statement.

“Wayne and Kathy Harris were horrified by the unexpected publication of their son’s journal entries and drawings,” the statement said.

“The Harrises are concerned that the public release of their son’s writings and videotapes may inspire further copycat incidents. Neither the Harrises nor their counsel were the source of the documents published in the Denver media.”

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in suburban Jefferson County. They then killed themselves.

After the attacks, the Harrises and Klebold’s parents both sent condolence letters to the victims’ families. The mother of a wounded student said the Harrises wrote to her family that “there are no words to express how much we regret the tragic events of that day. We would have given our lives to prevent them.”

The 1998 journal excerpts revealed Harris had hoped for a blood bath of epic proportions. “It’ll be like the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together. . . . I want to leave a lasting impression on the world,” Harris wrote. Duke Nukem and Doom are video games.

The Harrises were given copies in June of some of their son’s papers that had been taken from their home. They said their copies differed in many respects from the copies published by the newspapers, but they did not elaborate.

The documents were ordered sealed by a Jefferson County district judge and were not released along with other papers and a report last year.

Jacki Tallman, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said Friday the documents were not leaked to the media by someone in her office. She also said Klebold’s parents did not receive copies of Harris’ journal.

The published documents had material blacked out, while those in the investigators’ files and those given to the Harrises were complete, Tallman said.

Meanwhile Friday, attorneys for relatives of several Columbine victims asked the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine if a judge erred when he dismissed lawsuits against school officials and authorities.