LITTLETON — Struggling to cope with hundreds of new leads and confusion within their top ranks, investigators probing the murderous shooting spree at Columbine High School appear no closer than they were a week ago to naming or arresting additional suspects.

Physical evidence now indicates the only shooters in the school were Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, but an investigation continues to sort out whether others may have helped in their planning and means to carry out the attack.

Information contained in search warrant affidavits that could give the public deeper insight into the April 20 massacre will not be disclosed for sometime, after a Jefferson County magistrate sealed the affidavits indefinitely.

There is also new information that Harris faced a series of rejections shortly before the shootings and was supposed to be taking psychiatric medication. He reportedly was prescribed at one point a powerful anti-depressant, Luvox, used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. That disqualified him for induction into the Marine Corps, according to military officials in Washington.

One female student at Columbine said she had rejected Harris' offer to take her to the prom, she said in an interview with 20/20 that aired Wednesday night.

In a bloody siege April 20, Harris and Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher. The boys later killed themselves, each firing a single shotgun blast to his head.

Despite a late breaking news report Tuesday night, investigators say they have cleared, at least for the time being, three young men who were detained for questioning in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Authorities also clarified Wednesday that an 18-year-old female friend of Klebold's had purchased a rifle and two sawed-off shotguns used in the April 20 killing spree.

Investigators are still seeking the purchaser of a TEC-DC 9 pistol also used in the shooting. It is not illegal to purchase long barrel guns for juveniles, but it is illegal to purchase handguns for juveniles and it is illegal for juveniles to possess them.

That means charges could only be filed against the 18-year-old, whose movements on the day of the attack have not been disclosed, only if she knew the weapons were going to be used in a crime. Jefferson County District Attorney officials say investigators are a long way from that, although she will likely be reinterviewed.

"That's still one of the major things we want to find out," said Steve Davis, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. "Did she supply those guns with full knowledge of how they were going to use them?"

Other than the 18-year-old's gun purchases, police have offered up little other evidence that Harris or Klebold had help. "At this point the physical evidence only points to these two suspects," said Sgt. Jim Parr.

It has also been revealed that at the same time Harris and Klebold were making elaborate plans to cut short the futures of hundreds of their classmates, they were also preparing for their own futures in college and the military.

Perhaps to appease their parents, one of the boys spent the weeks before their April 20 massacre scouting a college campus, while the other was impressing Marine Corps recruiters.

On April 2, Harris was interviewed by telephone about his grades, his family life, and his reasons for wanting to join the Marines.

After passing two initial screenings, Harris was visited at his home April 15.

"It was during that screening process, on the 15th, that his parents told us there was a medical disqualification," said Marine First Lieutenant Jeff Sammons.

A toxicology examination of Harris showed he had no drugs or alcohol in his blood at the time of the shooting, but police officials said they were unsure if the screen used in the autopsy would have detected legal, prescription drugs. "I don't know what they screen for but I assume no drugs means no drugs," said Parr.

Investigators Wednesday are also trying to determine the validity of an employee at a Littleton hardware store who said he sold propane tanks, nails, and duct tape to Harris and Klebold, and that he copied a set of keys for the teens, although they were marked "do not duplicate." In other developments, investigators say a video taken from a camera mounted in the cafeteria did not contain any footage of a third shooter. It is not known what is contained in the video.

Parr and Davis meanwhile, spent much of Wednesday explaining away an interview given by their boss, Sheriff John P. Stone, in which he told The Associated Press that authorities were closing in on the three suspects in camouflage.

The three had raised suspicions because they arrived at their vantage point so soon after the first shots rang out, and because at least one of their jackets bore an emblem — a crucifix with a slash through it — that members of the Trench Coat Mafia sometimes wore.

An Associated Press story broke late Tuesday night saying Stone believed the three were conspirators in the attack and may have known about it and planned to join in the carnage.

But law enforcement officials now say that they do not consider the three teens accomplices, and that the sheriff had misspoken Tuesday night when he said the trio was the focus of the probe. After the story was picked up by several media outlets late Tuesday night department spokesman Jim Parr rousted Stone out of bed closed to midnight, drove him to a media encampment near the high school and had him clarify those remarks. Parr said Wednesday that Stone did had not been briefed on the latest information on the case when he made his remarks.

April 29, 1999

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