Anguish

9 of 13 victims identified; Colorado, nation mourn

By Matt Sebastian
Camera Staff Writer

LITTLETON — Investigators undertook the solemn process Wednesday of removing more than a dozen bodies from the battle-scarred halls of Columbine High School.

The macabre procession came more than 24 hours after the worst schoolyard massacre in U.S. history, a murderous rampage that left 15 dead, including two suspects who apparently ended their own lives. Twenty-eight people were wounded in the Tuesday bombing and shooting spree.

The belated death toll, released Wednesday morning, was one of the few scraps of good news — if it can be called that — since the midday slayings the day before. For most of Tuesday, police had estimated there were 20 to 25 bodies inside the school.

The investigation appeared to switch gears Wednesday afternoon, as officials announced they believe other students may have been involved in the planning of the assault.

"I think there is some evidence to suggest other people were at least aware of what was going on," Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas said at an afternoon press conference.

With about 30 explosive devices found in the school and inside the suspects' cars and homes, Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone had doubts "that two people could carry" so much ordnance into the school.

The district attorney vowed to "pursue vigorously the idea that there may have been other people involved, at least in the planning."

Police say they believe Columbine students Eric David Harris, 18, and Dylan Bennett Klebold, 17, walked into the high school at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday with guns blazing and rucksacks filled with homemade bombs.

"I don't see any motive for this attack," Stone said, addressing rumors that the gunmen targeted either minorities or athletes.

The explosions and gunshots echoed across the country and the worldWednesday.

"All of us are struggling to understand exactly what happened and why," President Clinton said from Washington." There is a deep desire to comfort the grieving and counsel the children."

The president was considering a visit to Littleton, although no decision had been made. His attorney general, though, will arrive in Denver today to meet privately with law enforcement officials.

"What we must do now is learn from this tragedy and use the lessons to help prevent future tragedies," Janet Reno said at a Minneapolis appearance Wednesday. "Although it comes as little comfort at a time like this, we must remember that schools are still among the safest places for America's children."

The pope sent a message Wednesday to Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput expressing his sorrow at the carnage at Columbine High School and assuring Coloradans "of his prayerful closeness at this very difficult time."

In Littleton, survivors congregated to grieve at Robert F. Clement Park, where students and their rescuers began piecing together what they experienced.

Police confirmed that a pipe bomb, hidden in a backpack, exploded on a residential street about a half mile from the high school about 11:15 a.m., 15 minutes before the shooting began.

"We believe, quite possibly, that it was a diversionary tactic," sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis said.

At 11:30 a.m., the shooters opened fire outside the school.

"We were right outside in the student parking lot and they started shooting," sophomore Jake Apodaca, 16, recalled. "We saw three kids get hit."

One of the gunmen, wearing the black trench coat that will forever be linked to this week's slaughter, fired a shotgun blast at Apodaca and lobbed an explosive onto the school's roof before entering the building.

Inside the building, Jefferson County sheriff's Deputy Neil Gardner — assigned to the school — found himself being shot at in a hallway.

"Our officer was returning fire even before the first officers arrived on scene," Davis said. The first paramedics to arrive also entered the building under fire, rescuing a female student.

Twenty minutes after the shooting started, the first SWAT officers entered Columbine. Two sheriff's deputies saw one of the gunmen on the roof, and more fire was exchanged.

The SWAT team pulled out as police officials plotted strategy and tried to determine what was happening inside.

They stopped hearing shots at 12:30 p.m., and during the next few hours, SWAT officers slowly combed the building, liberating hiding students and rescuing the wounded.

"It was chaos outside, but it was a different sort of chaos inside," said Lakewood SWAT Sgt. George Hinkle.

Explosions set off the school's fire alarms, sprinklers and strobe lights, wreaking havoc on the effort to clear the building.

"You couldn't see past the fire suppression system," Hinkle said. "You could have had a suspect at the other end of the cafeteria and you wouldn't have known it."

It wasn't until about 4:30 p.m. that officers reached the second-floor library, which one SWAT team member called "the killing zone."

"The best way to describe it would be horror," said Chris Colwell, the Denver Health doctor who declared the victims dead at the high school.

Twelve of the bodies were found inside the library, including those of the two gunmen.

The body of a faculty member, William Dave Sanders, 48, the girls' basketball coach, was discovered just outside the library. Two other students' bodies were found on the south side of the building. Colwell said they appeared to have been shot in the back and sides as they tried to run away.

Colwell's first impression upon entering the library was that everything was normal. Books were opened on top of tables. On one desk was a piece of paper.

"You could tell they were in the middle of writing a math question," Colwell said.

At one table, a computer was still on. The student using it had been shot to death and had slumped out of his chair onto the floor.

Colwell said he saw books on the floor, broken windows, glass everywhere, overturned desks. Blood stained the walls, the floors and the furniture. It appeared to him that most of the dead were trying to hide underneath their desks.

"It was a scene like I hope I never experience again," Colwell said. "I have never witnessed a disaster like that."

After spending the night searching the school for more bombs, investigators finally began the daunting task of processing the crime scene at Columbine.

"We're investigating this as 15 separate homicides," Sheriff Stone said Wednesday afternoon.

Police found two shotguns, a 9 mm semi-automatic assault rifle and a semi-automatic handgun. The bombs they used ranged from simple pipe bombs to more deadly explosives fueled by gasoline and propane, set to be detonated by timers.

About eight to 10 bombs were found in the suspects' cars, police said, while an equal number were recovered inside the school. More explosives and bomb-making equipment were found at the assailants' homes.

The high school will be closed indefinitely, as officials decide whether to send students to area schools.

Camera staff writer Christopher Anderson and wire services contributed to this report.