http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/2000/05/16/columbine_report0516_01.html
Columbine Report Gets Mixed Reactions
'Cutting-Edge' Production Called Short on Substance
May 16, 2000
By Keith Coffman
GOLDEN, Colo. (APBnews.com) -- The Jefferson County Sheriff's official report on the Columbine High School massacre has been given high marks for style, but some critics say it adds little to what was already known about the attack.
"[The report] has lots of bells and whistles, and it's a multimedia extravaganza," said attorney Barry Arrington, who is suing police on behalf of several families of victims killed in the rampage. "But the basic information has nothing new or startling in there."
The 700-page report, released in CD-ROM format, was culled from 10,000 pieces of evidence and 4,400 interviews during the yearlong probe. The April 20, 1999, attack by Columbine seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris left 15 people dead, including the teen killers.
While some new details emerged from the police account of the siege, the bulk of material had previously been reported or leaked to the news media before its public release Monday.
Denies 'friendly fire' report
The report defends the police response at the school, noting that hundreds of students were rescued safely, and officers had to make room-to-room searches in a chaotic situation. Authorities also deny allegations in one of Arrington's lawsuits that a police deputy mistakenly shot and killed student Danny Rohrbough during an exchange of gunfire with the killers outside the school.
"No individual was hit or injured by 'friendly fire,'" the report states.
Citing 15 pending lawsuits against his office, Sheriff John Stone issued a brief news release today, saying his officers "will not be conducting any media interviews about the contents of the report following its release."
"On the advice of its attorneys, any further elaboration and interpretation of the details contained in the Sheriff's Office report are not possible," the statement said.
Defense of police actions?
Denver lawyer and legal analyst Craig Silverman said no one should be surprised that the report shows police actions in the most favorable light. The police accounting, he said, is basically a defense to accusations in the victims' lawsuits that police failed to take aggressive action against the killers.
Shots Fired by Klebold and Harris:
Harris Klebold Total
Shotgun Rounds 25 12 37
Library 21 6
Inside 4 4
Outside 0 2
9mm Rounds 96 55 151
Library 13 21
Inside 36 31
Outside 47 3
TOTAL FIRED 121 67 188
"But the report would have been a lot better received if the credibility of the Jeffco sheriff hadn't been long gone," Silverman said, referring to a series of misstatements made by Stone during the investigation.
Silverman, however, gave Stone credit for formatting the report for CD-ROM, which he called "cutting edge."
"It's the most comprehensive and easy-to-access police report that I've ever seen," said Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor. "In terms of high tech, this is an advancement."
Users of the CD-ROM -- which costs $12 -- can read narratives of the various aspects of the investigation, with hyperlinks to audio and video clips.
'Defenseless children were murdered'
No matter how glitzy the report is, the sheriff has "failed" the public, said Randy Brown, the father of former Columbine student Brooks Brown, a friend of Harris and Klebold's. Early in the criminal probe, Stone called Brooks Brown's affiliation with the killers "suspicious" but later cleared him on any involvement in the crime.
Brown said the sheriff's office has treated the victims shabbily, failed to follow up on death threats Harris made to Brooks Brown 13 months before the massacre, and "allowed children to be murdered indiscriminately" on the day of the siege.
"Innocent, defenseless children were murdered while police waited outside, and that was a command decision by Sheriff Stone," he said.
Brown and his wife, Judy, are leading an effort to recall Stone, which they said would kick off in earnest next month.
Keith Coffman is an APBnews.com correspondent in Colorado.
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