On May 20, student Thomas J. Solomon, Jr. opened fire with a .22 caliber pistol at Heritage High School, near Conyers, Ga., a town east of Atlanta. There were no life-threatening injuries but six schoolmates were injured. The student, upset over a break-up with his girlfriend, was quickly taken into custody after being “talked-out” of committing suicide by the vice-principal, Cecil Brinkley, after placing the gun inside his mouth. The student was taking Ritalin and possibly anti-depressants. Congress quickly passed gun control measures after the shooting. Future reports would later prove that Solomon was in some way connected with the Trench Coat Mafia.
The same day, Jefferson County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Davis states, “We’re leaning toward Harris and Klebold being the only ones in there, but we’ve had several witnesses tell us they felt there was a third gunman or that they saw a third gunman.”
The next day, May 21, the Denver Rocky Mountain News released an article indicating the Sheriff’s Department’s doubt that other accomplices were involved in the shooting, in part because “except for a large bomb in the school cafeteria, all of the explosives could have been carried in a large gym bag.” (60+ explosives could be carried in a “large gym bag”? By whom and when was the bag carried inside?)
The Clintons also arrived in Littleton to meet with parents and victims. President Clinton reportedly said that Hillary has cried every day since the Columbine attack. During the visit anti-Clinton protesters gathered around the Catholic church Clinton was due to visit holding signs stating “Ban Government Schools, Not Guns,” and “Clinton: Rapist.”
On May 27 the parents of Klebold and Harris are sued by victim Isaiah Shoels’ parents, Michael and Vonda Shoels for $250 million dollars. Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, the attorney for Jack Kavorkian and former Michigan candidate for governor, filed the lawsuit.
Isaiah Shoels was supposedly shot in the head in the library during the attack. Witness and student Evan Todd said, “Once when they [the shooters] shot a black kid, one of them said, ‘Oh my God, look at this black kid’s brain! Awesome, man!'” CNN reported, “…he [Shoels] was shot in the head execution-style in the school library, specifically because of his race and athletic interests, witnesses said. His father says he believes that account.” Student Aaron Cohn, who was in the library, said, “…one killer put a pistol to his head but did not shoot him. Instead, he said, the shooter turned his attention to a black student, saying, ‘I hate niggers.’ Cohn heard three shots but couldn’t see what happened.” The Rocky Mountain News also reported, “‘He said, ‘We are going to shoot black people,’ one girl quoted a gunman as saying as she begged him not to kill her. ‘Then he shot a black guy sitting next to me. He shot the black kid in the head.'” Numerous other reports circulated in the news media indicate Shoels was shot in the head at least once. However, it has been confirmed that Shoels’s autopsy report reveals that he was shot once in the chest with a shotgun. CRTF has obtained the entire autopsy report, which was eventually released in July at the appeal of the Shoels family (see below timeline). The projectile entered his left side and exited his right side, inflicting both arms and the torso, in a slightly downward fashion. The autopsy report makes clear Shoels’ scalp, face and cranium region is unaffected by a gunshot.
Newsweek also confirmed shots to the head, “Shoels’s father says he had complained to school authorities about the boys. He thought they were dangerous racists. ‘Hey, I think we got a n—– here,’ one of the killers said now, spotting Shoels. They shot him in the head, and when he crumpled to the floor, they added two more bullets in the face. ‘Hey, I always wondered what n—– brains looked like,’ one of the boys is said to have laughed.” Is the autopsy report a fraud? Or were the witnesses told to lie about what they saw?
On Friday, May 28th, Jefferson County District Court Judge Henry Nieto refused to release autopsy reports of the shooting victims. Family members wept as Nieto announced his decision. (source [ap article may expire soon]) (another source)
It was reported on May 27 that Jefferson Co. officials and families of the victims were asking for the autopsies to be “restricted”. Why?!
Reported on May 28, Nate Dykeman, a friend of Eric Harris, said in a “Good Morning America” interview that week that Wayne and Katherine Harris found a pipe bomb made by their son “months” before the shooting. They destroyed the bomb and failed to report it (Dykeman later retracts the statement reported by the National Enquirer that Wayne Harris helped explode the bomb with his son, while the Enquirer says the quote is accurate [source]). As reported by The Denver Post, the Harris family, as of the 28th, apparently still refuse to talk with investigators.
The Denver Post released a lengthy article on May 30 detailing the slow response times of SWAT teams who failed to save the life of teacher Dave Sanders, who bled for four hours inside a school science room even though police were constantly told of his location by a student and a teacher with a cell phone. The SWAT teams, who were on the scene by 12 noon, were slow and methodical in their “sweeps”; and now the SWAT members refuse to talk to reporters about what happened.
The article also states, shockingly, “Other reports merely heightened the confusion. There were reports of anywhere from two to six gunmen, on the roof, in the cafeteria, the main hallway, hiding above a room where ceiling tiles had been removed. SWAT officers were told the shooters may be changing clothes and mingling with other students, a report that forced them to treat every student as a suspect. For hours, the gunmen were thought to be holding hostages somewhere inside the school.”
Biology teacher Bev Williams said it was about 12:15 p.m. when she heard a chilling bravado declaration from one of the gunmen in the library: “‘Today I am going to die!’ It was like he was screaming to nobody,” she said. (the Denver Post article)
There have been some reports, such as the above, noting a gunman was seen on the roof of the school. According to The Houston Chronicle, “[Spokesman Steve] Davis said three deputies exchanged gunfire with the suspects, including deputy Neil Gardner, assigned as security at the school, who remained inside during the ordeal. The other two deputies, Deputy Paul Smoker and Lt. Terry Manwaring, exchanged gunfire with one of the suspects when he appeared on the roof of the school.” Officials now say Deputy Gardner never entered the school, and that no one was on the roof, let alone fired upon.
Between June 1 and June 11 events included students’ return to Columbine to retrieve bags and books; task force probing the Columbine High School tragedy is scaled back from 80 investigators to 30; Colorado Bureau of Investigation is active in analyzing ballistics; repairs at school begin.
“The Dylan of late sounded not like the Dylan of old time,” said Lyle Welsh, whose two sons survived the assault. Witnesses claim Klebold was loud and brutal during the shooting, unlike his portrayal as a quiet follower of Harris.
Over $5 million dollars is reportedly the tally of contributions to The Healing Fund of the United Way for Columbine victim’s families. “The $4.7 million far surpasses the $400,000 raised after the Jonesboro, Ark., shooting and the $450,000 generated after the Springfield, Ore., attack.” The fund has been called “hush money” used to keep locals “quiet” about what happened during the shooting.
On June 12 Columbine teacher Patti Nielson aired her story of the events she witnessed to The Denver Post.
Between approximately 11:20 and 11:22 a.m., Patti Nielson, a young-looking 35-year old art teacher, and student Brian Anderson, after hearing gunshots outside, were shot at as they walked down Columbine High School’s “north hall” and “got to the second set of doors.” The gunman “turned around and looked straight at us. He did not have a mask over his face, but he was wearing some kind of black hat. I thought he was small, but I found out later he was pretty tall. But he was thin and kind of lean. He smiled at me and pointed the gun,” said Nielson.
Apparently, two or three shots were fired. Anderson was spared, while Nielson was grazed in the back. Nielson “pushed the student back inside”, suggesting that both her and Anderson were between the double doors when shot. “They sprinted around a corner into the library”, which is on the upper level above the cafeteria.
“The library was full of kids. ‘I screamed there was a man with a gun, and the kids were looking at me shocked.'” Nielson rushed over to the librarian’s desk (the librarian was at lunch at the time). She grabbed the phone and called 911. She could hear yelling outside of the library doors, which were open at the time. At this point, she felt there was more than one shooter involved. “I have said that it felt like there were more than two, but I cannot account for that…”, says Nielson. Approximately three-to-five minutes after she entered the library, and just after 911 had been contacted, Nielson says the gunmen entered the room. “They’re in here. They’re killing kids. I need to go now.” She left the phone off the hook and crawled beneath the desk. The phone remained off the hook for 26 minutes until the connection was broken, but not by Nielson. Those 26 minutes were recorded by the 911 operator and never released to the public.
The Rocky Mountain News reports, “At 11:26 a.m. — five minutes after the first shots were fired from outside the school — she [Nielson] called 911 from a phone at a desk…Investigators now believe that Harris’ and Klebold’s killing spree was over within 20 minutes.”
“I thought they were on illegal drugs, but I guess the autopsies show they were not, which is also kind of bizarre, because you can’t believe anyone in their right minds would do this,” said Nielson. The gunmen spent about 10 minutes in the library before, in their own words, departing for the “commons” or the cafeteria (ed. note: Had they not been there yet?). During that time they shot and killed a number of students. “…Most of the students who were unharmed or injured ran out of the room and downstairs to an exit.” If they ran downstairs, it would mean they ran into the cafeteria. Harris and Klebold must have ventured into other parts of the school at that point in time. Nielson never saw the shooters during this time. However, after the killing was over and 10 students were dead, the shooters approached the desk Nielson was hiding under, yet left before they found her.
While it appears that both shooters left the library at around 11:40 a.m., The Denver Post reported the following, “11:41 a.m. – One suspect in cafeteria, another in the library firing shots. Bombs continue to explode.” This indicates that bombs were exploding downstairs, and that two assailants were in two different areas simultaneously. Jefferson County also reports that Deputy Niel Gardner was involved in a “shootout” with an assailant at exactly 11:30 a.m. outside the school, a time in which the shooters were said to be inside the library.
Nielson crawled out from under the desk a few minutes later after the gunmen left. “Inside the library area are several smaller rooms. Nielson crawled around corners and spotted a cupboard under a kitchen sink. She sat on a paint tray, twisted her body into a fetal position and shut the cupboard door as much as she could.” She looked at her watch and it said 11:45 a.m. About twenty-five minutes had passed since she had been shot.
“I wondered why the SWAT teams weren’t there yet. I thought at any time someone would come in and say ‘It’s all right to come out.’ It didn’t take that long to get to the school.” Sometime after 1:00 p.m. Nielson says she heard someone return to the library and she heard more shots. “I didn’t hear any conversation, any yelling, just rat-tat-tat.” Nielson even checked her watched for the exact time.
CNN confirmed Nielson’s statement, “One student identified as James, who called a television station on his cell phone from inside the school, said he had heard more shooting around 1 p.m., about two hours after the incident began.”
“I knew there was no way that was possible,” Nielson said in reference to the belief that the gunmen killed themselves at around 12 noon. “When I looked at my watch and saw 1 o’clock, they hadn’t come back to the library.” By 4 p.m. she was finally found by a SWAT team and escorted out. She did not look at the bodies laying in the library as she left.”I could see hundreds of backpacks scattered everywhere, and at the door there was this backpack we were told to be careful of.”
An April 20th CNN report confirms part of Nielson’s account with the following account from witness Cathy Clark who was in the library, “This girl [Nielson] came up screaming … like, ‘Someone’s got a gun.’ She said get under the table. So everyone got under the table. These two guys came up and they were shooting randomly — there was bombing, I guess, downstairs and people were screaming.” (Were bombs going off downstairs synchronously while the gunmen were in the library?)
Patti Nielson’s account contradicts the notion that the gunmen were dead by 12 noon or slightly thereafter. It also contradicts teacher Bev Williams account that the gunmen were in the library at around 12:15 p.m. and may have killed themselves then. Williams may have heard the gunmen while they were outside the library.
Timelines of the event, contradictory to that of Nielson’s, appeared in print and on television on April 20th indicating an hour-by-hour synopsis of the shooting. The timelines suggested the following, “…They (the gunmen) proceed inside, to the school cafeteria, shooting as they walk, then upstairs to the library, still shooting.” The question remains, Who shot Nielson if Harris and Klebold were in the cafeteria as reported? Nielson has never stated that she saw Eric Harris, though witness Brian Anderson has said he did see Harris.
An AP article claims that at “11:35 a.m. Harris and Klebold enter the school through the back cafeteria door…11:40 a.m. Harris and Klebold go upstairs to the library, still shooting.” The shooters are said to have entered the school at around 11:20 a.m., not 11:35 a.m. Nielson was shot at around 11:20 a.m on the other side of the cafeteria. The shooters entered the library at around or before 11:30 a.m., not 11:40 a.m. These conflicting timeline reports only indicate further that more than two gunmen may have been involved. There has never been a clear indication of whether or not the gunmen actually went inside the cafeteria at first.
“Shots are heard until almost 12:30. About that time, in the library, Klebold and Harris turn their guns on themselves, though no one will be sure of this for hours. As 12:30 passes, after no shots echo for several minutes, SWAT teams begin sweeping the building room by room”, said the Boulder News, contrary to other reports.
Where was Nielson shot?
Please refer to John Quinn’s report in the “John Quinn” section for more analysis of Nielson’s comments. CRTF has attempted to contact Ms. Nielson to no avail. Nielson, however, did talk personally with a fellow CRTF investigator in Denver. She said the gunman who shot her seemed old, like a “man” as she has stated, and did not look like Harris or Klebold. He was wearing a black “beret”. She said she felt others were involved.
The sheriffs office on June 13 questions whether Klebold committed suicide or was murdered due to the location and trajectory of the bullet that entered his left temple. Klebold’s autopsy report may be released in July.
The Denver Post reports on June 17th in an article titled, “Video shows no 3rd gunman”, that the Columbine High School video surveillance tape, which was hurriedly transported to the FBI in Quantico, Virginia to be “enhanced” immediately after the shooting, has now been reviewed by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. Spokesman Steve Davis states, “There’s nothing (on the tape) to substantiate the theory of a third gunman at all.” The tape, apparently, only shows a brief view of Dylan Klebold walking around a corner. The Sheriff’s Department received the tape back from the FBI about three weeks ago.
It’s interesting that the tape was quickly shuttled off to FBI headquarters immediately after the shooting. While they claim “enhancements” were done, we can only speculate that various video shots of a third gunman were removed from the tape before Jeffco investigators viewed it. The Denver Post article reveals very little, unfortunately. Did the library have a camera? How is it possible that only one shot of Klebold was recorded when it appears both gunmen were traversing about the school for well over an hour?
“We already had some cameras in the cafeteria and parking lot areas. As long as they aren’t in classrooms,” said Columbine student body president Mike Sheehan on June 16.
According to Denver’s KMGH-TV, “7 News has reported that on April 20th there was a surveillance camera working, inside the cafeteria at Columbine. Sources say the tape shows the two gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shooting randomly and shooting at the bombs, apparently trying to set them off.” What happened to this scene on the tapes?
On June 18 “Philip Joseph Duran, 22, [who] worked with the gunmen at a Blackjack Pizza store and introduced them to friend Mark Manes, who sold them the TEC-DC 9 in late January…was charged with unlawfully providing a handgun to minors and possessing a dangerous or illegal weapon.”
“The sheriff’s department doesn’t anticipate any additional arrests in the near future,” said Division Chief John Kiekbusch.
Brian Rohrbough, father of shooting victim Daniel, blasts Jefferson County school superintendent Jane Hammond, calling for her termination, in an article in the Denver Rocky Mountain News on June 19. Jane Hammond has said it could cost $50 million to repair damage to Columbine High School. The repair ended up costing $1.2 million.
“I’ve said all along there were more people involved and nothing has changed my thinking,” said Sheriff John Stone in an interview on June 19 with APB News. Stone apparently talked with APB News during a recent Colorado Rockies baseball game he attended with his 11 year old daughter, Lori. The full interview can be found here.
On June 25th Harris’s autopsy report is released, while Judge Nieto says, “I believe I exceeded my jurisdiction” in making the ruling to seal all of the autopsy reports (yet the reports, with exception to Harris and Shoels, remain sealed). “When he died (due to a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head through the mouth), Harris was wearing a white T-shirt with the inscription ‘Natural Selection’ on its front. He also wore black combat boots and a black glove on his right hand with the fingers cut out,” said the Denver Rocky Mountain News. The report, however, did not note the time of death, and, “…the report also does not explain what happened to the pants, ammunition vest and trench coat Harris was wearing on April 20. Did investigators take them as evidence before the autopsy was performed on April 22? Investigators would not comment.” What happened to the masks as well?
An interesting excerpt from a Post report:
On April 20, the boy with the usual light-brown hair and military-style cut had black hair. That day his usual clean-shaven face was stubbled.
“The scalp is covered by short, bloodstained, black hair … the eyebrows are brown,” the report said.
Judy Brown, whose son Brooks had known Harris, said she had never seen him with dyed hair.
“He never dyed his hair,” Brown said. “It was kind of a lightish brown; it certainly wasn’t black.”
Did Harris dye his hair days before the shooting? Surveillance video later revealed a Harris with light-colored brown hair. It appears the autopsy report merely reflects the probable fact that Harris’s hair was blackened from his own blood.
June 30, a resident of the Denver area informed us of an email exchange that took place between himself and a student of Columbine High School. For the sake of privacy, names, email addresses and some of the content of the email has been removed from the following:
Hi,
My name is (deleted), I am researching what happened at Columbine on April 20th. I was hoping that you could elaborate on what you saw that day, and if you could verify some of the eyewitness accounts that there was a third shooter? I know that this may seem a bit forward but from the evidence I've seen it looks as though there could be more than two people involved. If you decide to talk to me I won't use your name if you wish to remain anonymous. I can be reached at (deleted) and I can be reached by phone at (deleted). Thanks, and I hope that you are doing better now after your ordeal.
(Signed)
The author of the above email has been in contact with us for the past few weeks. He is actively researching the shooting. He sent the above email to a student of the school. The below text is of this student’s response to the above unnamed researcher:
You do raise a good argument and if you speak the truth of your experiences with such cases then I cannot argue with you in a structured or competitive manner. I can say that your experience in other cases have caused you to be a dainty, truth seeking individual. I will tell you that us students haven't shared a lot of things. Things we intend on keeping to ourselves. Things we don't want the entire population to know. Want to know why? Because we don't care what the "outsiders" in the community think. If you don't go to CHS as a student or teacher, you may contemplate and assume all you want without worrying about getting a negative smirk from me. Thank you for the invitation to your gathering, but I have already given out enough information about the victims, details about the tragedy, Dylan and Eric, and all sorts of other things. I also do not wish to hear what a bunch of retired police officers and army personnel think about the shooting. Unless, of course, they went to CHESS.
The above can be interpreted in a many number of ways. However, the prevailing notion is the incredible yet inexplicable bitterness expressed by this student toward a sincere local individual seemingly simply trying to find the “truth”. “Things we intend on keeping to ourselves…things we don’t want the entire population to know”, says the student. What “things”? His comments are similar to those of student Makai Hall.
During the month of July the mother of Isaiah Shoels, Rhonda, said, “How can you go around making pipe bombs and killing people…and not think I was going to ask questions? I want justice.” She also inflamed locals during an appearance on a local radio show when she questioned how Patti Nielson managed to survive the library attack and not save the lives of other students.
On July 3rd The Denver Post released an article which conveniently explains that the Columbine school surveillance video now shows Klebold and Harris in full view holding a TEC-DC9 handgun, two shotguns and a carbine rifle. It was previously reported by Jeffco that the video only showed Klebold briefly walking around a corner. In April, before the FBI confiscated the video, indications were given that the video showed “graphic information” and scenes of both shooters firing at propane tanks in the cafeteria. The story changes once again.
The Denver Post article also says that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has concluded through ballistics tests that there is no evidence of a third gunman. (It must be noted that physical evidence would not necessarily be required to prove or disprove the presence of a third gunman in the school.)
“Officials said Harris and Klebold marched through the cafeteria at the start of their rampage, then returned there after killing 10 students in the library. They set a fire in the cafeteria, and, as soon as it began to spread, they went back to the library, where they killed themselves.”
The above “official” statement is at odds with a good deal of information since revealed by this web site and Mr. John Quinn.
“There was a lot of useful information for our investigators but nothing to support the theory of a third gunman,” said Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Steve Davis, implying that eye witness testimony of other gunmen was considered irrelevant. Jefferson County prosecutor Mark Pautler, however, indicated that more interviews needed to be conducted before the third gunman theory could be ruled-out.
Angela Sanders, the daughter of slain teacher Dave Sanders, threatened a law suit in July not for monetary gain, but to incite “…people to wake up, to realize it could’ve been prevented, to pay attention,” she says. Angela was originally angered by the slow response times of the SWAT members, but since her initial comments made days after the shooting she has recanted her position, saying her comments were made out of “anger” at the time.
The sheriffs office, by July 14th, continued to possess letters written by Kathy Harris to various families of the slain victims. The office says it has had a great deal of trouble contacting the Harris family and wants the Harrises to deliver the letters themselves. “We can’t get (the letters) to the Harrises’ attorney,” said Sgt. Randy West. “They’re busy, we’re busy and we can’t seem to connect with them…it’s really not our job [to distribute the letters].” Later in the month the Harrises finally sent letters out to the victims, but the original letters first sent to the office were “lost” — “The district is concerned about the missing package of letters and has sent a message to all schools and departments, asking them to check their summer mail and make sure the package of Mrs. Harris’ letters was not inadvertently sent to the wrong location,” spokesman Rick Kaufman said. Why can’t the sheriffs office get in contact with the parents of one of the known killers, let alone interview them?
“There’s no physical evidence that was discovered that supports the direct involvement of another individual,” said John Kiekbusch, a division chief with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, on July 29th.
A massive body of evidence along with ballistics reports from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was forwarded to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office on July 29th. The information, as reported at the beginning of the month, does not indicate the presence of a third gunman on the scene of the Columbine shooting.
However, an Associated Press article released on July 29th at 6:49 p.m. Eastern time quoted Sheriff John Stone while vacationing in Florida, “I’ve never thought it was just two [suspects]because of the amount of stuff that was brought in. But we don’t have enough to charge anyone.”
The article also quoted Spokesman Steve Davis, “From day one, the question has obviously been if there was a third gunman. We know every weapon that was fired. If we find any bullet that doesn’t match a weapon, we’ll have to go back.”
(Stone, in December, once again reiterated his belief that others were involved. The Denver Rocky Mountain News reported, “Stone also faced public criticism for some of his statements, including his speculation the first afternoon that the death toll could reach 25 and that Harris and Klebold probably had accomplices. Today, Stone defends himself, saying he was merely giving out the best information available at the time. That first afternoon, he notes, a teacher told investigators there was a ‘whole bunch’ of kids shooting up the school. It angers him that he was criticized by the same people who clamored for information — reporters. Months later, after assuming a lower profile, Stone said he didn’t regret his blunt comments early on. ‘I think the public’s got a right to know,’ he says.”)
The Rocky Mountain News stated conspicuously in an article also released on the 29th, “Dozens of witnesses interviewed by police after the crime claimed that from five to eight individuals participated in the shooting that left 15 people dead, including the killers, and more than 20 injured.”
Did the Colorado Bureau of Investigation carefully misconstrue and distort the ballistics evidence given to the Sheriff’s Department?
The Columbine Task Force, a group of community leaders, parents and school officials, proposed Orwellian-like security measures in July to be implemented in local schools in light of the Columbine shooting. A final decision on the measures will be made on August 9th, and formal action taken by the school board on August 19th. Some of the measures include, “Requiring students and visitors to wear IDs at all times”, “Studying whether adding another armed guard at each high school would be effective”, “Having one armed resource officer at each of the district’s middle schools”, “Studying whether cameras recently installed at Columbine are effective for districtwide use.”
Most recently, on August 6th, the Columbine Task Force indicated that it’s proposal will include, “…provisions increasing the number of security guards districtwide, restricting access to schools and installing security cameras on a trial basis…the use of drug- and bomb-sniffing dogs and the installation of panic buttons in school offices.”
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