I’m not the only person who entertains these opinions.
According to the lawsuits filed this week, authorities engaged in a number of inexplicable actions during and prior to the shooting. Below is a short tally of shocking allegations made in the lawsuits:
- That someone unnamed in the sheriff’s office, a friend of Harris’ father, Wayne Harris, terminated other officers’ work on a search warrant for the Harris home. This was some 14 months before the Columbine shootings, when Wayne Harris allegedly found a pipe bomb made by his son and had exploded it in a field.
- That sheriff’s investigators failed to follow up on numerous complaints by the family of student Brooks Brown that Harris was dangerous. The Browns gave sheriff’s officers a hard copy of violent threats made on Harris’ Web site.
- That sheriff’s commanders ordered officers who had gone into the school to evacuate and forced hundreds of other officers and paramedics to remain outside for hours.
- That people trapped inside the school were ordered — some of them repeatedly, for hours — to stay where they were because help was on its way and would arrive within minutes, which wasn’t true.
- That, although students and teachers in a science classroom with Dave Sanders hung a sign in the window saying “1 BLEEDING TO DEATH” and repeatedly spoke by telephone with officials, their pleas for help were disregarded for hours.
- That Sanders easily could have been rescued through windows on two sides of the classroom.
- That, although officials knew for hours of Sanders’ location and condition, he was the last person in the school reached by medical help.
- That a sharpshooter on the roof of a nearby house told officials at noon that he had a clear shot at Klebold through a library window, but was ordered not to fire.
- That authorities issued orders against the use of battering rams, sledgehammers and rappelling gear that might have gained police entry into the school. (source 1, source 2)
These explosive allegations, based on eye-witnesses who have come forward, blow away the “official story” of what happened. They support the theory that there was a concerted effort by commanders overseeing the scene to ensure the shooting occurred without interference from SWAT teams or policemen. In other words, the shooting was planned in concert with the government.
Families have demanded viewing a draft of the sheriff’s final report, helicopter footage, and other hard evidence that has remained sealed. These families want the truth on what happened that day. The sheriff’s office aggressively opposed any judgment to allow the families to view the evidence. A judge, however, ordered that the families be allowed to view the information, but only within the confines of the Jefferson County building. There, on April 19th, they were treated to long delays and a noisy room where the evidence was viewed.
Allegations entirely separate from the lawsuits support further the claim that rescue workers were prevented from saving lives and that other gunmen were involved. Below are the shocking statements from local Denver physician William Deagle. He has worked for Lockheed Martin, Lucent Technologies, Littleton’s Swedish Medical Center, among other respected entities. He currently serves as a physician for the Englewood Fire Department and was present at Columbine on April 20th.
Below are excerpts from Dr. Deagle’s February 20th, 2000, video-taped testimony, obtained by CRTF:
“I could talk to you about the details behind the fact that the Jefferson County sheriffs threatened my firefighters — I’m a doctor for the Englewood Fire Department — [they threatened] the battalion chief and ladder man with deadly violence if they tried to rescue Mr. [Dave] Sanders. They were told if they tried to enter the building they would be shot.
“One of the janitors that actually rammed a tractor into the building and pulled out some students was threatened with deadly force if he went back again by Jefferson County sheriffs.
“Did you know there were twenty-six federal and state agencies at Columbine? There were BATF in the building. I have three children’s accounts — three — that were shot, that I personally interviewed, that said [the BATF] were shooting children. There were Denver SWAT teams inside the building at the time of the shooting that didn’t engage them.
“I had firefighters crying in my office telling me how they arrived in eight minutes and were willing to go in without a kevlar flak jacket and helmet and were told, ‘If you go in, we’ll shoot you.'”
I talked with Dr. Deagle by phone and he confirmed all of his above statements.
The press is catching on. Salon magazine (“Columbine Coverup”) and Denver’s Westword (“Stonewalled: The Story They Don’t Want to Tell” and “None Dare Call It Travesty”) have both run negative stories, and The Denver Post’s Chuck Green, in a recent column, calls Sheriff John Stone, “Sheriff Stonewall”. When families of victims rise up in such numbers, the news media can no longer ignore the reality that Columbine is an unresolved case. (We suggest that you visit the Denver Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post web sites and read the latest stories for a full grasp of what is going on — some of the information revealed in the lawsuits is outright jaw-dropping.)
It is clear the sheriff’s office has engaged in a pattern of deception and lies unprecedented in any similar case in recent history. It is my commitment to pursue, to the best of my ability, the full extent of this story. Justice will prevail.
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The following is our analysis of the Cable News Network (CNN) television coverage of the Columbine High School shooting on April 20th, 1999.
CNN begins coverage of the shooting at 11:54 a.m. The five hour set of tapes consist of approximately 60% KUSA coverage, 20% KMGH coverage, and 10% coverage by both KCNC and CNN, respectively. There remains a great deal more coverage to be obtained and analyzed from the respective affiliates.
The majority of the time during the coverage reporters are repeating the same information over and over, in a loop, until new information comes in. The eye witness interviews, though sparse, proved to be the most revealing and interesting. It is a shame that the coverage did not reveal the experiences of students in greater detail.
While the word “semi-automatic” was mentioned twice in describing the guns used, “automatic” or “automatic weapon(s)” was spoken during the five hours of coverage by reporters and witnesses approximately nine or ten times.
The word “hostage” or “hostages” is spoken at least fifteen times throughout the day by various reporters. The word “grenade” or “grenades” is mentioned at least eight times by various reporters and witnesses. The word, or phrase, “masks” and “ski masks” is mentioned by witnesses and reporters at least eighteen times. These are conservative estimates.
While it appears there were news helicopters on the scene within minutes, their coverage was only shown in length on CNN until after 1:30 p.m., approximately.
Early on, there is no indication that SWAT teams were ever inside the school. Only after approximately 2 p.m. is the impression of a large SWAT presence near the school conveyed. By 3 p.m. there are authorities walking calmly around the walls of the school. By this time it was clear the gunmen were probably dead or no longer posed a threat to the officers.
On the tapes, there are reports of “at least two gunmen” throughout the day. There are also reports by 1 p.m. that the Trench Coat Mafia is involved. There are reports that two gunmen entered the parking lot, proceeded to the cafeteria and then made their way to the library — reports which do validate the “official” story.
The information below — 99.9% accurate as transcribed from the tapes — attempts to reveal the true nature of the events which took place.
At 11:54 a.m. Jefferson County Public Information Officer Steve Davis spoke over the phone with KUSA, en route to the school, and reported that there were shots fired and bombs detonated.
Jonathan Ladd, a student, was on the phone moments later. KUSA anchors questioned Ladd about a “bomb scare” at the school earlier in the day, of which he knew nothing about. KUSA anchorwoman Kyle Dyer then asked Ladd about grenades. “One of the really disturbing things with this, obviously, is that there may be a grenade, or grenades involved…” Ladd could not tell what kind of device was used in the detonations. Ladd did not see the gunmen and ran off the campus almost immediately after the shooting began.
The coverage then switched to KCNC where a discussion ensued about a possible gunman “on the loose” as well as two gunmen in the school.
“Eventually we all ran outside…as I was laying outside I heard rapid fire, like blackcats were going off and it was inside the school,” said Braden Pasusich on KUSA at 12:02.
At KCNC a student named Janine called and indicated that gunmen in trench coats stormed the school and she said repeatedly that they were throwing grenades. She then said to the news anchors, “How did you get my phone number?” and the news anchors replied that they were told she had contacted them. She did not respond.
At KUSA a few minutes later, Greg Moss is on scene at Bowles Ave. and Pierce St. Numerous agencies were converging on the scene. Moss said, “They’ve also had some reports of some people hanging out on the roof top of the school…”
Kim Sander phoned KUSA at 12:10 and reported what her daughter had told her. Her daughter was in the parking lot next to her car when she and a friend heard some “pops” that “got louder” and she “saw a gunman, in a black trench coat, with a very huge gun in front of him…she said he had dark brown hair, with thick, bushy eye brows, was very, very ugly….this gunman was out of the school, he was up on top of this ledge thing where the student smoking area is and he was shooting down at these students…She did not recognize him as a student, no, not as a student. ” Kim then emphasized that she told her daughter to remember what she had seen so to inform police properly, and she felt her daughter’s description of the gunman was very accurate.
At 12:12, back with Greg Moss, the camera is zoomed in on the staging area where Steve Davis is shown walking nearby. He is wearing a white bulletproof vest and holding a hand-held radio.
At 12:16 student Bob Saban (sic) describes over the phone to KUSA his dramatic experience. He ran out of the “back of the school” after he heard shots, then turned around and “saw the men…stalking around looking for people to kill”. He said he did not recognize them because “they were wearing black masks…they were all in black with some machine guns.” Saban indicated that he saw them through the back entrance (where teacher Patti Nielson was shot). He also said there were two explosions “minutes ago” inside the school, which would have been sometime after 12 noon.
Minutes later video from Bowles and Pierce show students running from Columbine to safety through the trees. In the foreground, Principal Frank DeAngelis is shown wandering about a grassy knoll.
Moss reports that by 12:23 “four SWAT team districts are on scene”. Video is fed from the staging area during most of the hour, showing dozens of officials walking and meandering around in a casual fashion, with some running or jogging by. The staging area is located a few hundred yards north of the high school.
“It’s been about twenty minutes since the last report of an explosion,” says KUSA anchor Gary Shapiro at 12:28. Moss reports at 12:30 that “at least two suspects are inside. They may have found where they are, or at least have a pretty good idea of where they are…again, automatic weapons are involved.”
KUSA’s Kyle Dyer minutes later emphatically states, “It seems we’ve heard so many eye witness accounts that so many students saw these men…they must have been all over the school!” The camera man focuses on a number of officials in the staging area, from a SWAT guy dredging around a body shield that says “NATO-3” in white letters on its front, to a man wearing sunglasses and a black suit — possibly the FBI’s Dwayne Fuselier. Moss then reports, “At one point, police officers thought they (the gunmen) were on the roof…”
Jeff Goodman with the Colorado State Patrol at 12:33 phones KUSA and says, “Since I got here, maybe a half hour ago, I have heard shots…and it sounded like heavy, heavy shots as in long rifle or some kind of an automatic weapon.”
Tony LaMonica in the KUSA helicopter reports in at 12:39. Blurry, unclear and distant scenes of the school are shown for the first time. The cameraman then directs the camera over to the staging area. LaMonica says, “At one point just a few minutes ago they thought they might have somebody up on the roof…apparently there was some concern that someone might be up on the roof.” LaMonica says from his vantage point he did not see anyone on the roof at that time. KUSA decides to cut the helicopter feed while LaMonica is describing what he is seeing. Instead, a ground shot of the staging area is shown. The school is not shown again until much later on in the broadcast and LaMonica is not heard from for over an hour.
Moss continues reporting from the staging area, and a SWAT member is shown holding a battering ram, among the many law enforcement officials.
Bob Saban returns by phone and reports back at 12:46. He says he was in Mr. Condon’s math class, ran to the door upon hearing gun shots, and fled. Later he hid “in the bushes” and “saw the men” and subsequently left the area in fear they might see him.
At 12:52 a student calls the KUSA newsroom and says he knows the identity of the gunmen, yet hangs up before he is placed on the air. A few minutes later a reporter says that the gunmen may be students, and that “they believe they have taken hostages inside the school.”
A student named Evan phones KUSA at 1:00 and says he saw “two kids” in all black clothing. “They both had two shotguns and one of them had a pistol type uzi, a small uzi.” The description fits both Klebold and Harris. He continued,”…they were a part of a trench coat mafia, homosexual group.”
Minutes later Ed Gawkowski of the State Patrol was asked by KUSA anchorwoman Dyer how many were involved and said, “…it’s up to two to three, possibly, yes.” The anchorwoman was befuddled that only two men could create that kind of havoc.
At 1:04 a student named James phones KUSA. He is located in a classroom by himself, apparently using cell phone to call in.
GARY SHAPIRO: James, we understand you are inside the school?
JAMES: Yes, I am.
SHAPIRO: You're in a secure area, I imagine.
JAMES: Yeah, I'm in a classroom with locked doors.
SHAPIRO: What's going on there now?
JAMES: It's just really noisy outside. I hear a lot of screaming.
SHAPIRO: Now you say you hear screaming, is that recent?
JAMES: Just as it is right now.
KYLE DYER: Have you heard any gunshots?
JAMES: No gunshots, just threats. A bunch of threats; the guys are yelling out there.
DYER: Do you recognize the voices?
JAMES: I don't recognize any of the voices.
James is then asked to call 911.
At 1:07 a cheerful Emily Kooch is interviewed by Ginger Delgado on the west side of Clement Park. Emily said the gunmen, “…just kept going back and forth between [the library] and the cafeteria, and all over.” They eventually left the library long enough for Emily to flee.
James calls back at 1:09. He says he heard more gunshots.
SHAPIRO: What are you hearing right now?
JAMES: Hearing a couple of gunshots. People were running up and down the hall a little bit. I don't know what happened outside. I just heard them yelling, telling them to get down. They're inside the cafeteria, I hear stuff being thrown around. ...I don't know if they know I'm up here, I just glad they don't.
SHAPIRO: ...does it seem to you like there are a lot of students still in there, can you hear a lot of kids?
JAMES: Yeah, there's still a few kids in here.
SHAPIRO: Has it quieted down now?
DYER: It seems quiet.
JAMES: No, not really.
DYER: No?
JAMES: There are a bunch of people crying outside...Wow.
DYER: What was that?
JAMES: I don't know.
James is then put through to the police.
Seconds later reporter Hiedi Hammet is on the phone and says, “…we have just been told as recently as twenty minutes ago there were some more shots fired inside the school. The police officer tells me they aren’t sure if there are any more injuries because they really don’t know what is going on inside the school. They do know there were more shots fired, a lot of people heard them…they do believe there are hostages inside.”
At 1:25 KUSA’s Gary Shapiro reports, “We have some information we would like to relay. It’s kind of a strange situation. James called us back…James has apparently caught another view of the gunmen. He is describing them to us…James can’t get through to the police department because the phone lines are jammed up…James saw the gunmen a few minutes ago. He is describing them as wearing hats, black trench coats, black masks, and one of them has long hair that is coming out the back of his hat. That is the description we have. They apparently are still holding hostages in the cafeteria…”
At 1:28 Greg Moss talks with Steve Davis who says, “…we really don’t know how many suspects…certainly more than one, possibly two or three, the exact number is unknown.” He also said he had no reason to believe that any of the suspects had been shot, or that any of the authorities had been shot.
A minute later Tony LaMonica reports back from the helicopter. Dozens of students are shown running out of the school. They climbed out of a bottom floor window near the cafeteria.
Later on, CNN switches to KCNC where a news anchor says, “…some of the witnesses…believe these two young men were…targeting minorities, people of color, and people who played sports, strangely enough.” KCNC also reports that “two to three” gunmen are possibly present in the school.
At 1:42 three young men are arrested at gun point in the west corner of Clement Park in a field. They are wearing hats, black jackets, and camo pants. During the course of the next few hours it becomes more and more clear that these young men had prior knowledge that the shooting was going to take place.
Ginger Delgado reports from Clement Park at 1:52, “Mark Wilson [of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation] says to us that he believes the suspects may have changed clothes. We’re getting conflicting reports now because we did talk to one person who was in the school who saw the suspects still wearing the trench coats at this hour.” In an interview with CRTF, Ms. Delgado was asked to confirm this incident and whether or not students had told her after 12:05 p.m. that the gunmen were still alive inside the school. Delgado could not recall specifically whether students were saying the gunmen were still alive after 12:05 p.m., though she considered it a possibility and said many students were describing the gunmen throughout the day.
At 2:06 John Furrugia of KMGH said, “…as we were standing here a person in handcuffs was just put in a car who was wearing a black jacket….we don’t know if that was a suspect…police aren’t saying.”
CNN’s Tony Clark reports from the scene by phone minutes later and says, “…some young people were brought out…they were put in handcuffs, currently they are being questioned right now. We are told they are friends of the alleged gunmen. They are being questioned over at a car not too far from our location.”
At 2:38 the “bloody student in the window” in the library, Patrick Ireland, is rescued by a SWAT team who pulled him to safety using a Lomis Fargo armored vehicle. This event suggests, that at this point, SWAT teams had yet to make their way into the library.
At 2:47 a view from a helicopter shows more students being freed as they come out of a door next to the cafeteria. They are corralled next to the gym, where they are asked to put their hands in the air and are frisked. Officers on the scene below seem tense, and SWAT members guard the perimeter.
At 2:51 a reporter for KMGH on the scene says, “A little after 11:25 this morning…we understand that three younger, armed men came in with, ahh, a couple of them had long black coats on…started shooting, they started in the lower parking lot…moved on through the cafeteria area and moved on through the school.”
While CNN did not carry his actual comments, KMGH reporters later on at 3:18 spoke of comments made by student Jonathan Vandermark who said he saw dead bodies in the hallways as he ran out of the school.
Seconds later, on KUSA, Tony LaMonica from the helicopter reports, “Apparently, somebody has just been arrested at gun point…it appears this person is definitely in custody and wanted for questioning.” The young man located near the east entrance of the school is led away. He is wearing a black shirt and blue jeans.
At around 3:25 an armored personnel carrier, presumably from Buckley Air National Guard Base, is on the scene. Other National Guard vehicles are also shown. A few minutes later, KUSA news anchors and Tony LaMonica report that some officers “just took cover” behind vehicles — no explanation was given.
At 3:38 a neighbor near Columbine High talks with anchors at KMGH. She said when the shooting began she heard “seven loud, terrifying blasts”. She saw windows burst out and glass fall all over the ground. “..Shortly after that there was a lot of rapid fire.”
At 3:48 Trench Coat Mafia member Chris Morris is led off in handcuffs by a Sheriff’s Deputy. He is placed in a black sedan which subsequently speeds off the scene. He is wearing black cargo pants and a black “South Park” T-shirt.
Just seconds later, KMGH reporter Anne Trujillo at Swedish Medical Center reports, “We’ve just had a very interesting twist…police just came out and told us that a car-load of people left Columbine High School and was followed by a car-load of people that apparently, possibly, had weapons. Excuse me, an ambulance left Columbine High School and it was followed by a car-load of people…that possibly had some weapons.” An officer with a large shotgun is stationed outside the Emergency Room of the hospital. Other hospitals are also on alert.
A minute later, a reporter on the scene of the school for KMGH says, “We had Seven News reporter Paul Ryerson (sic) mention a moment ago that he had heard the reports that there were shots being fired in the school. We did talk to someone with police and that is correct, there were some just a few moments ago.” A KMGH anchor later said, “…those shots may have been coming from the gymnasium area.”
At least three fairly large explosive abrasions can be seen from helicopter footage on the roof of the school. The abrasions are above the library where bombs or grenades were likely thrown.
At 3:56 KUSA’s Phil Keating interviews a student and her mother. The student was inside the Science Room. She was asked the last time she heard shots fired. “Probably around one [p.m.]…before my lunch hour, and then it stopped, soon after that.”
At 4:04 Steve Davis and Sheriff John Stone hold a makeshift press conference.
A reporter says she has heard the suspects had “live hand grenades”. The Sheriff did not respond directly to the question.
The Sheriff says there are possibly 25 fatalities and gives the impression he gained this information from SWAT teams reporting back from inside the school. Stone also gives the impression that only within the hour had SWAT teams finally begun to make sweeps of the school. He says things will be “wrapped up” within an hour. What took them so long?
“Do you think there were automatic weapons involved?,” says one reporter. Stone did not respond.
Stone said the gunmen (Klebold and Harris) were found “within the last hour”.
A reporter said, “I was told by one young man out here that there were three people that went in. There were two in trench coats and one in a white T-shirt.” Stone responded, “We had three names, we’ve got two bodies that belong to two of those names up there, and the third name, the person was not in the school.”
“We found a device in one of the [suspect’s] houses…a bomb,” said Stone. “The fact that you have kids with automatic weapons is really a concern. What are these parents doing letting their kids have automatic weapons?”
Tony Clark with CNN said, “One of the students earlier today told me he was coming down the stairs and saw three bodies there, people he thought had been killed.” Clark also talked to witness Sean Kelly, “…as I was trying to get out through the auditorium, I heard around 10 or 11 rounds shot from an automatic weapon at that time…I like to consider myself lucky, I got out in one of the safer areas; however, the plate glass window in the front of the school was broken out, I do not know what that was from.”
Clark also said, “There was some talk by some of the students of three individuals, two in trench coats and one in a white T-shirt…the authorities have said all along that they knew there were at least two…”
Concerned that a third suspect in the school might be watching TV, CNN decided to “filter” its coverage of the shooting event, according to CNN’s Bernard Shaw.
On KCNC a traumatized student from the library said, “…I looked out the window and there was this guy throwing a pipe bomb at all the cars…they were shooting anyone of color, wearing a white hat, or playing a sport…I pleaded with him for ten minutes not to shoot me.”
A student named Josh talked to KUSA about the Trench Coat Mafia and said they had “found God in themselves”, that they were outcasts, and that they never took part in school activities.
Earlier in the day, Adam Foss, a senior at the school, spoke with a reporter with KCNC. “We were in the crossfire between the Science Hall and the Choir Room…I think three guys (gunmen) and a bunch of twelve gauges, maybe smaller guns.” Foss described seeing “guns blazing”, a few kids get shot, and his heroic corraling of 60 students into an “eight by eight” room for safety.
On KUSA a student said, “One of the guys came in with the guns into the auditorium…I’m hoping all of my friends are okay.”
At 4:58 Gary Shapiro says that KUSA has been covering the incident since 11:15 or 11:25, when it first began.
“Earlier today our affiliates showed one of the people inside the building, a man, standing…” said Bernard Shaw on CNN. At this point the tape is cut. Unfortunately, the scene of at least one of the gunman standing in the library shot by a KMGH helicopter does not appear on the tapes we received. However, CNN, moments later, did in fact air the scene. The scene might prove that the gunmen were still alive well past 12:05 a.m.
Considering the above, we would like to remind readers that the “official” story alleges that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold — working alone — walked into the cafeteria, then up to the library. There they spent about fifteen minutes terrorizing and killing students. After that they proceeded back to the cafeteria, and then returned once again to the library where they killed themselves at 12:05 p.m. Authorities even claim Harris and Klebold fired their final shots, beside the ones that killed them, sometime around 11:50 a.m.
The fact remains that shots were heard coming from inside the school up until about 3:45 p.m. If the gunmen were dead by 12:05 p.m., what, or who, were SWAT teams finding reason to fire at in a school filled with dozens of students?
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