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TRANSMITTED: 27 APR 1999 14:37 FROM: CLEMENT PARK CP / LITTLETON CO TO: DARPA HQS WASH DC // ATTN: FIELD ARCHIVE My Assignment In Colorado Time: April 20, 7 P.M. 1999 - TBD Place: LITTLETON, COLORADO - Columbine High School Incident Report Field Report submitted by Cynthia Austen to DARPA Headquarters Washington, DC. Field Logistics: Upon my arrival to Columbine High School, I was given a small desk, a typewriter and access to a fax machine at the Clement Park Command Post Trailer setup by the Littleton police. As the police get reports from the incident I get a copy and integrate them into this report. At this time, I am restricted to the trailer and asked not to leave or take photos. At regular intervals, every two hours, I fax this updated report to the Pentagon in Washington DC. I expect to be here a few days until all the information about this incident has been collected. A sleeper trailer and concession truck is available to us for the duration of the incident's investigation. School has been canceled until further notice. Incident Background: The police have indicated this date is significant and given me these details: 1) April 19, 1993. The FBI ended a standoff with the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas, by storming the compound. 2) April 19, 1995. Timothy McVeigh bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Dylan Klebold, born 9/11/1981 Eric Harris, born 4/9/1981 Incident Reports: April 1999: Monday, April 19th - Eric Harris delayed the planned attack on his high school for 4/19. Both he and Dylan Klebold had planned the attack on this day for over a year. Mark Manes one of their friends, was late getting more ammo. Mark had sold them the TEC-9s, while the two were still 17. Mark Manes was already known to police as a small-time local drug and small arms dealer. He is an occasional uncompensated CI for local police and the ATF. Monday morning - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went to school as normal. The day progressed uneventfully. Monday evening - Mark Manes called Eric Harris. He had purchased two more boxes of ammo with fifty rounds each at their local Kmart. Monday evening - Eric and Dylan drove to pick up the ammo. Manes and Philip Duran were there and sold them accessories for the TEC-9s, two ammunition clips, a barrel extender, a holster, and a case. Manes asked if they were going shooting that night. They responded "Maybe tomorrow." Tuesday, April 20 6 A.M. - The weather reporter on TV predicted a clear day with temperatures in the 80s. 6:20 A.M. - The Columbine High School custodian loaded fresh tapes into the schools video surveillance system. Early Tuesday morning (exact time unknown) - Eric Harris left for school in his black Honda Prelude. He also left their previously recorded "Basement Tapes", with a final good-byes recorded that morning. 5:30 A.M. (time confirmed by parents) - Dylan Klebold was already awake and leaving the house. His parents were not up yet. He called out "Bye." They did not see how he was dressed or what he was carrying. 6 A.M. - They skipped their high school elective bowling class. 6:20 A.M. - They met up at the local grocery store to purchase two more propane tanks. 7:00 A.M. - They drove back to Eric's house. They assembled their main propane bombs and set up their car bombs. Dylan Klebold wore cargo pants and a black T-shirt that said "WRATH". Also a black baseball cap turned backwards with the letter "B". He carried a black trench coat. Eric Harris wore a T-shirt that said "Natural Selection". They had previously left two pipe bombs behind at Eric Harris's house, six at Dylan Klebold's. 11:00 A.M. - They met again at a park near Eric's house. They placed decoy propane bombs in a field, and set the delayed timers for 11:14 A.M. 11:05 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold drove separately to school. 11:10 - Eric Harris drove into the school's parking first. Some girls honked and waved. Eric waved back and smiled at them. He continued on to the junior parking lot. Dylan Klebold entered the senior lot and parked his BMW in front of the cafeteria.. Dylan Klebold had a Savage 311-D 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun. It was sawed off shortening to 23 inches. Eric Harris had a Hi-Point 9mm carbine rifle and a Savage-Springfield 12-gauge pump shotgun. It was sawn off to 26 inches. They each also possessed their TEC-DC9 semi-automatic handgun. 11:12 (Their first encounter with their fellow students) - Brooks Brown walked out for a cigarette and saw Eric Harris. 11:15 - Eric and Dylan both entered the school building with two duffel bags containing the propane bombs. Each was strung with nails and BBs, lashed to a full gasoline can and a smaller propane tank, and wired to bell clock timers. Each bomb fit in the duffel bag and went unnoticed in the crowds. They were both placed in the main cafeteria and the bombs were set to detonate at 11:17. They waited for the main propane bombs to ignite in the school's cafeteria. Their plan was to bring down the building. 11:18 - No bombs went off. Students were strolling outside, settling onto the lawn for a picnic. A janitor ran out and reassured Sean. He advised Sean to play dead. Sean did. 11:23 - Dylan Klebold rejoined Eric at the top of the entry stairs. The first 911 call came to Jeffco Police 911 operators. The dispatch report went out at 11:23. Eric Harris amused himself at the top of the stairs, shooting, laughing, and hurling pipe bombs. 11:24 - They headed down the hallway toward the library. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold moved through a hallway, throwing pipe bombs and shooting at random. Eric Harris bent to taunt two girls under a table, then fired at Nicole Nowlen and John Tomlin. When John tried to move away, Dylan Klebold killed him. Eric then shot Kelly Fleming, killing her. He hit Lauren Townsend and Lisa Kreutz again, and wounded Jeanna Park. They returned to the library, where they shot through the windows at police officers outside before killing themselves. They left behind the biggest bombs of all in their cars, set to go off at noon. These did not detonate. One teacher, William "Dave" Sanders, was dead, along with twelve students: Cassie Bernall, Steven Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Matthew Kechter, Daniel Mauser, Daniel Rohrbough, Isaiah Shoels, Rachel Scott, John Tomlin, Lauren Townsend, and Kyle Velasquez. Twenty-four other students had been injured, three hurt as they tried to escape the school. At the perimeter, officers struggled to hold back the parental onslaught. Noon - a SWAT team made its first approach on the school. The officers commandeered a fire truck for cover. One man drove the truck slowly toward the building, while a dozen more moved alongside. 12:06 - Lieutenant Terry Manwaring's team laid down suppressive fire and later worked its way to another entrance. Another six charged inside. Additional SWAT team members arrived and followed them. 12:35 - Lieutenant Manwaring's half of the SWAT team had inched around outside the building. They rescued Richard Castaldo from the lawn. They approached Rachel Scott. They brought her back as far as the fire truck. They determined she was dead. They went for Danny Rohrbough. They left him on the sidewalk. 1:15 - A second SWAT team charged the building from the senior lot, smashed a window in the teachers' lounge. The officers entered the adjacent cafeteria. Books, backpacks, and assorted garbage floated around the room, which had been flooded by the sprinkler system. CNN carried a live call between a local anchor and a student alone under a desk. "I've got a little TV, and watching you guys right now." On live TV, a boy described sounds he took to be the gunmen: "I hear stuff being thrown around," he said. "I am staying underneath this desk. I don't know if they know I'm up here. I am just staying upstairs for right now, and I just hope they don't know." The anchorwoman replied: "Don't tell us where you are!" Her partner told him to hang up, keep quiet, and try to reach 911. "Keep trying to call them, OK?" Back at the school - SWAT teams searched the building for over three hours. The killers were lying dead. They had committed suicide in the library at 12:08, forty-nine minutes after the attack. At this time it is the worst school shooting in history. Columbine, right or wrong, has become a symbol for the hazards of bullying, mental illness, irresponsible parenting, police incompetence, and guns. Epilogue: "Both Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold suffered from severe depression. Despite Sue Klebold assertion the Dylan was a happy adolescent. He was self-medicating depression with alcohol and the supplement St. John’s-wort. His online nickname was Vodka." But Dylan had already been accepted to many colleges for computer engineering. "Eric Harris had been disqualified from joining the Marine Corps five days before. The Marine recruiter disclosed to Harris's father, a retired Air Force pilot, this was because he was taking the prescription antidepressant Luvox. Luvox also functions as an anger suppressant. It is supposed but not clear if he stopped taking the medication before the attack." Later a test for the drug found Eric had been taking the medication up until he died. Another report said Eric was never told he had been disqualified from the Marines. Another report said Eric never wanted to join the Marines, but a friend said Eric thought he would make a great Marine. None of this really explains why two teenage boys would plan and conduct a suicidal mass killing. In this vacuum numerous theories were promoted. Did bulling and racism cause this? Clique rivalry, jock-hunting, bully-revenge, misfits, unrequited love? Maybe we will never know why. This is my last report and update. I have been here for over a week, and the police are dismantling the trailers and living quarters. The state police are driving me to the airport where I will go back to my previous assignment. - End of Report -