Dave Cullen: Columbine

Patrick Ireland, gently breathing:Patrick went in and out of consciousness. It’s possible, though unlikely, that he might have already begun to crawl away from his initial position. There’s a remote possibility that he could have been conscious during the suicides. He has no memory of them.

CHAPTER 53. AT THE BROKEN PLACES

Two thousand mourners turned out:I attended both events for the memorial, in 2006 and 2007.

They married:Depictions of the wedding came from attendees.

Local churches felt a surge:I interviewed a large number of local pastors about activity in their congregations over the intervening years. The pattern was remarkably similar, and followed historical trends. The Barna Group did a major study on the religious impact of 9/11. It found a similar surge on a national level: half of Americans said their faith helped them cope; church attendance spiked—doubling in some churches the first Sunday; and a sizable minority of people actually altered their core beliefs. The latter change flouted conventional wisdom, though—turning away from fundamentalist beliefs: slightly fewer people believed in an all-powerful God, or in Satan as an actual entity. All the changes disappeared within four months. And five years later, rates on every measure were still indistinguishable from pre-9/11.

When a journalist stopped by:I was the journalist.

In addition to these sources, this book relies on my reporting for several periodicals, published in somewhat different form. The articles appeared in 1999 through 2007 in Salon, Slate, 5280, and the New York Times. Links to those and online versions of many works below are available on my Web site at davecullen.com/columbine. Instructions for obtaining evidence released by Jefferson County and other agencies are also available there.

GOVERNMENT REPORTS ON COLUMBINE AND SCHOOL SHOOTERS

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “ School-Associated Student Homicide: United States, 1992-2006.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 57, no. 2 (January 18, 2008): 33-36.

EI Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Reinvestigation into the Death of Daniel Rohrbough at Columbine High School on April 20, 1990. April 10, 2002.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Department of Justice. Critical Incidence Response Group. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective , by Mary Ellen O’Toole. 2000.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s Office Final Report on the Columbine High School Shootings . CD. May 15, 2000.

Lindsey, Daryl. “A Reader’s Guide to the Columbine Report.” Salon, May 17, 2000. http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2000/05/17/guide/index.html.

The Report of Governor Bill Owens’ Columbine Review Commission . Hon. William H. Erickson, chairman. May 2001.

U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education. The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. May 2002.

THE KILLERS: EVIDENCE RELEASED

Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Laboratory Report . Released by Jefferson County on May 31, 2000.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Laboratory Report . CD. Released by Jefferson County on February 6, 2002.

Colorado Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General. Columbine-Related Grand Jury Report: Supplemental Attorney General Investigative Report . Released on September 16, 2004.

Colorado Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General. Grand Jury Report: Investigation of Missing Guerra Files . September 16, 2004.

Colorado Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General. Report of the Investigation into Missing Daily Field Activity and Daily Supervisor Reports Related to Columbine High School Shootings . September 16, 2004.

Columbine High School. Cafeteria Surveillance Tapes . DVD. Released by Jefferson County on June 7, 2000.

Denver Police Dispatch. Denver Dispatch Cassette Tapes . CD containing seven and a half hours of communication. Released by Jefferson County on March 6, 2003.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. Denver Division. FBI Crime Scene Processing Team Reports and Sketches . CD. Released by Jefferson County on September 5, 2001.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. Denver Division. FBI Report of Interview with Randy, Judy and Brooks Brown . CD. Released by Jefferson County on May 22, 2001.

Harris, Eric. Harris Web Site: 1997 Police Report and Web Pages . CD. Released by Jefferson County on October 30, 2003.

Harris, Eric. Journal, school essays, yearbook inscription, IMs, schedules, and hundreds of other pages of accumulated writing. Included in 936 Pages of Documents Seized from Harris and Klebold Residences/Vehicles . CD. Released by Jefferson County on July 6, 2006.

Harris, Eric, and Dylan Klebold. Klebold/Harris Footage . Contains miscellaneous footage retrieved from Columbine High School or provided by citizens. VHS tape. Released by Jefferson County on February 26, 2004.

———. “ Rampart Range” Video . VHS tape. Released by Jefferson County on October 21, 2003.

Harris, Wayne. Journal. Included in 936 Pages of Documents Seized from Harris and Klebold Residences/Vehicles . CD. Released by Jefferson County on July 6, 2006.

Jefferson County Coroner’s Office. Autopsy Summaries. Released on February 6, 2001.

Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, Klebold Autopsy Reports. Released on February 23, 2001.

Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Juvenile Diversion Program Documents (Harris). Released on November 4, 2002.

Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Juvenile Diversion Program Documents (Klebold). Released on November 22, 2002.

Jefferson County Juvenile Court. Magistrate John A. DeVita. Hearing Resulting in Assignment to a Diversion Program for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. March 25, 1998.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Case No. 98-2218, February 24, 1998. Westover Mechanical Services by Ricky Lynn Becker v. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Arrest report, case synopsis, and supplemental reports about the January 30, 1998, van break-in.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. 11,000 Pages of Investigative Files . DVD. November 21, 2000. (The largest single release of police reports.)

———. Additional Investigative Files . Contains CD of additional ancillary reports (tips, Internet pages, threats, and related reports, plus audiocassette of Jefferson County 911 dispatch tape and missed side of tape from previous release) and two large crime scene diagrams. August 8, 2001.

———. Crime Scene Processing Team Reports and Sketches . CD. Released on June 19, 2001.

———. “ Crowd” Video . VHS tape. Approximately 38 minutes of crowd footage filmed by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab outside Columbine High School after 1.00 P.M. on the day of the shooting. Released on February 26, 2004.

———. Evidence Books . CD. Released on May 11, 2001.

———. Jefferson County 911 and Dispatch Audio . Two CDs. Released on August 7, 2000.

———. Miscellaneous Items . CD. Contains the draft search affidavit, audio of the shoot team interviews, written transcript of an interview with Columbine High School community resource officer Neil Gardner, and the executive summary of the library investigative team. Released on April 10, 2001.