Lebell

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Questions still torment Columbine parents

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 Posted: 11:22 AM EDT (1522 GMT)


LITTLETON, Colorado (AP) -- For nearly five years, unsettling details have trickled out from dusty file cabinets and evidence vaults about just how much authorities and others knew before Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold slaughtered 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School.

Misplaced police reports, prophetic videos made by the killers at the school itself, a father's secret journal, a Web site and essay promising death -- families of the victims say the warning signs were clear.

"How many times have we heard this was everything, only for something else to come out?" asked Dawn Anna, mother of murdered student Lauren Townsend. "The first time we heard that was back in 1999."

Some 30,000 documents in the case have been released over the years and 10,418 pieces of evidence ranging from a tooth fragment to propane tanks were put on public display this year.

Local authorities, the school district, a state commission and the Colorado attorney general have all investigated, but the question remains: Why didn't someone -- a parent, a sheriff's deputy, a teacher, a fellow student -- step in before the suicidal gunmen went on their rampage?

Victims' families have tried to get answers: Some sued the sheriff's department, the school district and the parents of the killers. They won damages, but a federal judge sealed many records.

At the heart of most questions is the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, which responded to the massacre and led the official investigation. Its track record is spotty at best.

Downplayed threats
After the shootings, sheriff's officials downplayed tips about Harris making death threats -- even though they relied on them to get a search warrant for his home hours after the bloodshed.

Randy and Judy Brown, whose sons were threatened by Harris, made several attempts to get the sheriff's department to investigate.

The tips started in 1997, when one of the Browns' two sons gave a deputy a printout of a Web site in which Harris boasted of going on nighttime missions with Klebold, firing weapons and vandalizing property.

The Web site later included boasts by Harris and Klebold about building pipe bombs and referred to "ground zero."

The tip was forwarded to former sheriff's investigator John Hicks. A warrant was drafted to search the Harris home, but it was never executed. A report by Hicks was found tucked inside a training manual just six months ago, a stunning revelation that prompted new Sheriff Ted Mink to ask Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar to investigate.

Salazar said he found no negligence by the sheriff's department, though he found at least 15 instances of contact between law enforcement and one or both of the killers.

Warning signs
Other warning signs included violent videos made by Harris and Klebold for a class project and an essay by Klebold in another class describing a Columbine-like slaying of "preps." In one video project five months before the rampage, the two stalk through Columbine itself, offering hit man services to classmates tired of being bullied.

Harris and Klebold were arrested for a break-in a year before the attack, but parole officers were never told about the death threats tied to the teens. Both completed probation and were deemed to be likely candidates for success as adults.

"There was overwhelming evidence. Columbine should have been prevented," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was one of the first to die. "We cannot turn back the hands of time, but we can put all this information out on the table. ... We can make this an example of what went wrong so that we can prevent it from happening again."

Secret information
Most excruciating for some of those seeking answers is the fact that some information is being kept secret. The Harris and Klebold families were forced to give depositions to settle a lawsuit, but what they said remains sealed.

Joe Kechter, whose son, Matt, died at Columbine, said the lawsuit was settled because families were running out of money to fight the insurance companies whose homeowners' policies covered the Klebolds and Harrises.

"I hope some day the Klebolds and Harrises agree to get this information out so it can save other kids lives in the future," Kechter said. "I am doing this in respect of my son. I feel the police and the whole system let him down that day. I am not going to let him down."

The school district's investigation also remains confidential because officials say its release would violate attorney-client privilege. Salazar's investigation remains open, though family members don't expect big news from the new U.S. Senate candidate.

"I really don't think we are going to get any more answers," said Al Velasquez, whose son, Kyle, was among those killed.
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My thoughts:

The media in it's usual frenzy is making the parents of Columbine victims another set of perpetual victims for it's own profit.

Consider how many people die tragically every year and that the families have to eventually move on; but not Columbine.

No, we have to rehash rehash rehash, because some people cannot accept the fact that there are evils and tragedies that happen in the world.

Could Columbine have been prevented?

I honestly don't know.

But I do know that holding on to any thing like this for 5 years with this intensity is not healthy.

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mrquackers

As a member of that "media in its usual frenzy", allow me to offer a little insight.

Five year anniversaries of any historic event are fairly common to observe - whether tragic or uplifting. In the case of Columbine, it's a particularly fitting time to look back at the events.

Many court documents, etc. related to the killings are just being released in this time frame, giving people a better insight into what happened and (possibly) how to prevent things like this from happening again. More importantly, though, this is a good time to follow-up and see what happened with the survivors to this tragedy - all of whom should have graduated by this point. Case in point: The kid who was hanging out of the window with a gunshot wound (the picture that made every newspaper in the country) had to teach himself to walk again, but went on to become valedictorian of the school and will graduate college this year and enter the business world.

Anniversaries don't have to be all about rehashing the past. They're a good - and natural - time to remember the fallen, try to figure out what lessons were learned and check in with the people who were there (that want to talk about it) to see how they've moved on with their lives.

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Cynthetiq

hindsight is always 20/20 and one can always connect dots when they know the end picture.

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Lebell

I think my focus is that we are forcing the familys to continually re-live the tragedy without really healing.

So while I agree that retrospects can serve a good purpose, we have not STOPPED looking at Columbine, so how can there be a retrospective?

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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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mrquackers

Well, I would argue that we did stop looking at Columbine for a few years when there was nothing new information-wise. For about six-months to (generously) a year after the shooting, it was very much in the news. Then, it faded to the background - certainly not disappearing from people's minds, but not pinging the radar of the national media, with the exception of the one year anniversary, when there were ceremonies. (And, it's worth noting, the date was marked in Littleton today by closing the school for a day.)

All that said, I've neither seen nor heard any complaints from anyone in the Columbine area. Most are happy their children haven't been forgotten - and are working hard to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again. If there's any family who would rather it not be mention, it's one of the two that claimed the shooters as their son.

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"If you're walking on thin ice, you may as well go ahead and dance."

shalafi

thats what I was thinking while reading this article. that and the fact that you can have all the clues in the world but they have to all get into the right hands to do you any good. its the same problem our intelligence services face. the answers are there for anyone to see.......IF they know to look for it.

onetime2

Yep, absolutely.

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raeanna74

I can hardly understand the torture that "reliving" that nightmare is for the parents and other children involved in that tragedy. If we as parents, if the law enforcement agencys can learn something from this so that we are better equiped to prevent a similar tragedy in the future than the deaths of those young people will not be in vain.

What bother's me most is all the blaming that seems to be going on. There was a slip in many hands. All of the blame belongs to no single group. As a teacher I found that the students who excelled the most were not necessarily the smartest ones. The ones who excelled were the ones who's parents communicated with me regularly, who were more involved with the children, and the ones who know where their children were or what they were doing the most. Thing is they couldn't have helped their child as much without me the teacher, and without the school authorities. They were also the parents who greeted and talked to other parents when they would come to school meetings or pick up their kids. They were involved with their children, the classroom, the school, and their child's friends and parents. It takes a collective effort to help our children grow up healthy physically and emotionally.

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Lebell

Well just fyi, you have now.

I feel comfortable speaking for my friend as well, who has a Littleton address not far from Columbine.

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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Mephisto2

Will you say the same thing on September 11, 2006?

Mr Mephisto

mrquackers

That's fair enough. I certainly see the frustration in having your area known for just one horrific event. It would be like Atlanta only being known for the Olympic Park bombing (though, admitedly, the ramifications of that were significantly lower than Columbine).

Might I ask if you were either a student in the school at the time of the shootings or a parent of a student at that time? [Edit: Looking at the birthdate in your profile, I'm guessing you definitely weren't a student. Perhaps a teacher?]

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"If you're walking on thin ice, you may as well go ahead and dance."

SabrinaFair

Another tragedy I wish they'd give a rest: Jon Benet Ramsey. PLEASE shut up about little Jon Benet. No one believes in letting the read 'rest in peace'...

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Lebell

Probably, considering I've already spoken out agains the "victim's fund".

Healing only occurs if you stop picking at the wound.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Lebell

No, too old to be a student there and too young at the time to have a child there.

Just a Denver native who's had friends that went to Columbine.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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moonstrucksoul

i dont' feel that this so much making the parents out as victims, but as making the point that police didn't live up to their own mantra "to protect and to serve". Did they i[]protect[/i] the kids at the school? No. Did they serve the taxpaying citizens of Littleton? No.

they had all the signs and leads that something might happen, and yet, they did nothing.

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yournamehere

A lot of the 'rehashing" is being done <u>by</u> the families.
In addition to wanting to know why the sheriff's department failed to act on numerous complaints regarding Harris, they also want to know why it took law enforcement officers <i>three hours</i> to enter a building when they knew wounded people were bleeding to death inside. Many people think that Dave Sanders (the teacher killed) died needlessly because of the reluctance of the police to enter the building.

I don't think it's time yet for "Let bygones be bygones." There's still too many unanswered questions.

Seeing as how you're from that area, though - I imagine it's more incessant coverage than the rest of the country gets - and I can see your point from that perspective.

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kurty[B]

Being from Colorado, too Lebell I know how you feel. My classes, at least philosophy and psychology classes use Columbine as a case study. Just the other day I went to the garden store to buy some columbine flowers (cause I thought they were beautiful flowers finding them in the wild as a kid), and while at the store someone told me "Remembering Columbine?" It probably came off wrong, but I set them down, and grabbed some tulips instead.

water_boy1999

The 9/11 Commission is all about proving that we didn't do enough before the event ever really happened. I think, as a nation, we thrive on blaming others when hindsight is all we can count on.

Columbine? Nope, we didn't do enough. Parents, teachers, the police, or the sheriffs could not have seen what would have happened unless one source had all the information at the same time.

We certainly won't forget. Sometimes we wish we could, but the media will always be there to remind us.

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animosity

i just get sick of having to see the same story all the time when i didnt even care the first time. (yes i am insensitive & yes i am comfortable with that.)

Mephisto2

Fair enough!


Mr Mephisto

World's King

I think Lebell and I have a different view on this then the rest... We live in Colorado. I've had to live/relive this damn thing everyday since it happened. Not a day goes by that I don't see a bumper sticker on someone's car that says "We are all Columbine." What the fuck does that mean?

No matter where I go and no matter who I talk to the topic comes up. They all want to know if I knew anyone that died or if I knew the killers. My answer is always, "Yes."

I'm a Killer. I’m a Victim. I got picked on and wanted to kill fellow students. I picked on others that could have come back and blown my fuckin’ head off. Were there signs that this was gonna happen? Yes. Are there questions that have gone unanswered? Yes. Could this have been stopped? No. These are teenagers. These are kids that don’t belong to anyone or anything. Not a single teenager in the history of the modern world hasn’t wanted to beat the living shit outta something or someone. They acted out. They showed everyone that walked around blind everyday that this shit happens. And it’s your kids that are causing the problems. I dealt with the same shit they did everyday. They just got their hands on the weapons before I did. It’s that simple.

Welcome to Colorado. We Breed Killers.

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Skettios

That's interesting.

I'm still not tired of hearing about the whole 'Branch Dividian' thing. I think that when something traumatic happens to our society as a whole, it gets incorporated into the fabric of our culture. It's all part of our shared experience.


Just think about all of the other stuff we never stop talking about...

These sort of things are morbid, but ultimately prove what interesting creatures we are.

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guthmund

I think, in America at least, we have a morbid fascination with death. Especially the deaths concerning the "innocents and babes." We erect monuments to nearly every cause and every victim of tragic circumstance. We link every present tragedy with similiar events in the past, creating an endless cycle of misfortune and never ending grief.

I think there is a time for sorrow. There is a time for consolation. There comes a time, however, when we need to let the past be the past and move on to other things.

The wound that is Columbine has had 5 years to fester and rot; it's time to let that one go and move on to the kids who are still living.

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tecoyah

Imagine theres no people.....it's easy if you try.


All I am saaaaying.....is give peace a chance.

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Bill O'Rights

*standing ovation*


oh...and no sarcasm intended or implied. /disclaimer.

__________________
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

kulrblind

But, if the ends justify the means, and we -do- happen to learn something from all the extended investigation, don't you think that people would be grateful if something like it could be prevented, even just once?
[sarcasm] Might as well forget 9-11, Hiroshima, The Holocaust, the Montreal Massacre, ... I could go on and on [/sarcasm]

oh, and ToK, it's not just you. The killers are everywhere. Wouldn't you like to think you could stop just one, instead of claiming "boys will be boys"?

Sorry.. got a little snarky there.

tisonlyi

Can't agree.

With no intention to trade or compare, I'm from Liverpool. A Liverpool Football Club supporter.

In 1989 95 LFC fans lost their lives in a stadium disaster, largely because a section of the police regarded football fans - and people from liverpool in particular - as subhuman. Salt was rubbed into these wounds by national tabloids printing authority-inspired LIES concerning the behaviour and conduct of the fans on that day.

15 years on, the wound is still raw for everyone who watched the game live. Everyone who had a relative there and the families and friends of those who passed away.

Yes, there are those who are sick of the continual coverage. There are those who believe that 15 years on, everyone should just let it go and move on.

For the majority though, while the truth is still hidden, while those responsible are allowed to hide behind the establishment and avoid responsibility lessons _cannot_ be learned and healing and forgiveness can't even be _considered_, let alone begun.

The similarity, to me, is in the lies and/or cover-ups.

Hillsborough Disaster

If i'm being irrelevent in some people's eyes then fair enough, I see a parallel. Why should the injured forget their wounds when there is no full and frank disclosure of the facts, no blame fully accepted, no lessons openly learned and no honest forgiveness sought?

My $0.02

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sexymama

I don't like the idea of belaboring a point. However, in this case, I think the message is "what can we learn to make our schools safer?" As an educator, I have seen a shift in how we respond to bullying as a result of Columbine. It may be a little overboard -- at the same time it is necessary to learn from our mistakes. Not responding to the Columbine students the way we should have is a tragedy. Not learning from the situation would be even worse. We cannot pretend this didn't happen -- any more than we can pretend the concentration camps didn't exist. History gives us the chance to learn.

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Kaos

Well said, and before Columbine happened I'm sure everyone found it hard to believe 2 students would do something/go through with something this horrific, even with the warning signs.

World's King

Killers don't need to be stopped. They need to be taught.

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Derwood

In other news, new developments in the Jon-Benet Ramsey murder case.....

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kulrblind

Actually (thought it wasn't articulated properly), I meant "prevent a killing", not "stop a killer"... point taken, though.

Averett

That was seriously profound.

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Redgirl

I think it is more the victims and their families who keep these things going rather than the media.

I live in Oklahoma City, the bombing of the Murrah building happened 9 years ago April 19th. I still see the "We Will Never Forget..." bumper stickers, we have a marathon every year commemorating it, there is a whole huge memorial where the building used to stand and a museum dedicated to preserving the memories.

The media did not create all of these things. The media does not recruit people to come to the memorial and cry. I think guthmund is right- people just have a morbid fascination with tragedy. Maybe it's a way of feeling connected to others?

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Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Redgirl

Good parallel and I think you're right on about that.

OKC bombing- same thing. OKC is trying a man already convicted in federal court of the bombing of the Murrah building. Victims weren't satisfied with that, they wanted to try him here so he can get the death penalty. It's all about getting closure so maybe those that can move on, will.

__________________
Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Strange Famous

"I don't mean this in a disrespectful way/but Columbine happens in the ghetto everyday" - LL Cool J

I think the reason that people havent "gotten over" Columbine, is that none of the lessons seem to have been learned, the question to come out of it surely is that should it really be so easy for emotionally disturbed kids to lay their hands on a lethal arsenal of firearms?

America - or at least the right wing part of America - seems to have its love affair with guns, so there is a choice I guess, if the freedom to own guns is so important to the nation, you will have to bare many more tragedies such as this one. I suppose the parents must feel that their children's lives were worth so much, that the loss of them really should make people start to think that these guns shouldnt be out there that this shouldnt be allowed to happen again... most parents love their children a great deal so I think most of us can appreciate how they feel.

For those who have no love, well of course its sad, but its easy to rationalise it away... and if those kids hadnt have had any guns, they just could have killed all their classmates with a kitchen knife, or a bat, and its people who kill people not guns, and... well all the rest we hear so often from the gun lobby.

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for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

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ARTelevision

What lessons are there to be learned from a couple of sociopathic personalities? I suppose it is worth a footnote to abnormal psychology. Extending the behavior of 2 individuals and drawing conclusions that are then applied to a nation-size population is the height of hyperbole.

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Peetster

Arm every teacher.

I'm serious.

Strange Famous

The lesson is surely who easy it was for a couple of sociopaths to get a whole load of guns?

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas