Park near high school gathers students, media

Flowers, signs cover the grass as community continues to grieve

By Jason Gewirtz
Camera Staff Writer

LITTLETON — The voices at the mid-day press conference could barely be heard above the din of four helicopters circling overhead and a church group leading dozens of students in song 20 feet away.

Throughout the day Wednesday, crying students, camera- and microphone-toting media and nearby residents shaking their heads flowed into Robert F. Clement Park north of Columbine High School. Many said they just didn't know where else to go.

"It seems like everyone in the world is here," resident Suzie Vantatenhove said.

Bowles Avenue, a major road running alongside the park, turned into a virtual parking lot, drivers craning their heads to examine the scene. Hundreds of people walked along the street, hugging, carrying flowers and mementos, heading toward the corner north of the school.

By the end of the day, two trees on the corner and portions of a grassy knoll were covered with flowers, handwritten poems and signs of support from neighboring schools. Balloons, chimes and yellow ribbons hung from the trees.

Nearby, workers labored to build a platform that CBS news anchor Dan Rather later used for a live broadcast. U.S. West telephone workers opened boxes to set up new phone lines, and almost 30 satellite trucks for television stations lined the street and parking lot.

Students wore ribbons of blue and silver, the colors of Columbine High. They hugged, they cried, gathering in small groups to discuss the tragic massacre of 14 students and a teacher at the school.

A group from nearby Littleton High School began one large display of signs and flowers in the middle of the main knoll where people gathered Wednesday. The students gathered in a circle five or six deep, placed the signs in the middle and threw in flowers.

"We don't know what to do — we're trying to do whatever we can," one of the students said, turning around to the memorial, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then, crying into a friend's shoulder, she said in halting speech, "This is the best thing we can do."

Students from Arvada West, Golden, Chatfield and Bear Creek high schools also came with signs and flowers.

"This horrible experience has brought all the schools in Jefferson County closer together," said Lindsey Neam, a 17-year-old junior at Columbine.

"Even though it didn't happen in our school, it was our school in a way," said Missy Michalek, a 17-year-old Chatfield High School senior. "It was our community."

Meanwhile, local, national and international media gathered at the scene. When officials gathered for a morning briefing on the knoll, they were surrounded by 40 to 50 seated reporters, circled by more than 20 television cameras and still photographers. Parents and students squeezed in, seeking more information, some sign of hope.

Later in the day, more students arrived. Prayer circles formed spontaneously throughout the knoll. Dozens of people came with signs. One sign with a Chilean flag read: "Chile is praying for the victims and their families."

Among the group of students, media members and nearby residents, many clergy members assembled to offer consolation and spiritual guidance.

The Rev. Greg Peters of Hosanna Lutheran Church in Littleton, having just finished an interview with a South Bend, Ind., television station, said members of his congregation came continuously to the church following the shooting. He said he came to Clement Park Wednesday to offer yet another avenue for people to share their grief.

"We need to provide a place for people to come and talk," he said, surveying the scene of reporters and crying students. "That's what's happening here."

Camera staff writer Sandra Fish contributed to this report.