November 22, 1998 Eric and Dylan buy two shotguns and a rifle at the Tanner Gun Show.
December 2, 1998 Eric fires his weapon for the first time.
January 23, 1999 Eric and Dylan buy the TEC-9 from Mark Manes.
January 20, 1999 Eric and Dylan complete the Diversion program, and Dylan resumes his journal.
February 7, 1999 Dylan submits his prescient story about killing "preps."
March 6, 1999 Eric and Dylan practice shooting at Rampart Range.
March 15, 1999 Eric and Dylan begin filming the Basement Tapes.
March 20, 1999 Eric attempts to recruit Chris Morris.
April 5, 8, 15, 1999 Eric talks to a Marine recruiter.
April 17, 1999 The prom.
April 20, 1999 The massacre.
* Unknown date, approximately this period.
Acknowledgments
This book is possible because of the survivors who graciously shared their stories. Thank you all. John, Kathy and Patrick Ireland, Brian Rohrbough, Linda Sanders, Frank DeAngelis, Dwayne Fuselier, Dr. Frank Ochberg, Dr. Robert Hare, and Kate Battan were especially generous. Reverend Don Marxhausen and Lucille Zimmerman were particularly kind.
Joan Walsh initiated this project by publishing my early stories at Salon. She gave me confidence and helped me find my voice. No writer could ask for more. David Plotz, David Talbot, Dan Brogan, Mim Udovich, and Toby Harshaw helped me continue reporting at other publications.
Early on, when I needed it, three veterans surprised me with e-mails of encouragement: Richard Goldstein, Frank Rich, and Jonathan Karp. You'll never know what that meant.
Jonathan first suggested the book. Mitch Hoffman later championed the project, guided early efforts, and helped me establish the tone. Jonathan returned for the crucial edit. I was struck by the clarity he brought. Jonathan gathered a wonderful team at Twelve and Hachette: his assistant, Colin Shepherd, added insightful notes on the manuscript; Karen Andrews did a thorough legal review; Bonnie Thompson redefined the term copyedit; managing editor Harvey-Jane Kowal was patient with my changes; Henry Sene Yee, Anne Twomey, and Flag Tonuz provided a great design. Cary Goldstein and Laura Lee Timko publicized the book well enough to get it into your hands.
This book went through several incarnations. From first reporting to publication, it took ten years. The one person who never lost faith in it or me was my agent Betsy Lerner. She earned my deepest gratitude. She's also a great editor, advisor, shrink, and rock.
I built on the work of other great journalists, especially Dan Luzadder, Alan Prendergast, and Lynn Bartels. I owe them a great debt. Michael Paterniti reinspired me with his brilliant GQ story on the tragedy. Wendy Murray generously shared her field notes. Mark Juergensmeyer's book gave me a deeper understanding of terrorists. Michelle Lopez and Mike Ditto were relentless researchers and fact-checkers. Dr. Frank Ochberg, Bruce Shapiro, Barb Monseu, and everyone at the Dart Center helped teach me about compassion for victims and for myself.
I was stunned by the number of friends willing to volunteer their time and contribute so greatly to this book. David Yoo, Ira Gilbert, Joe Blitman, David Boxwell, Jeff Barnes, and Alan Becker provided great feedback as early readers. Alan stepped in countless times, like lending me his PC and babysitting my hard drive at Best Buy for hours on a Sunday night when it crashed just before a deadline. My mom typed and formatted the bibliography, and cheered every development. Thanks to the folks at Alexian and Health Futures for keeping me solvent with an intermittent day job and the flexibility to put the book first. Lydia Wells Sledge stands alone. She devoted a year of her life to serve as full-time unpaid reader, proofer, fact-checker, researcher, organizer, assistant, and tackler of every conceivable odd task. She claims to have enjoyed it.
Jeff Moores, Marilyn Saltzman, Rick Kaufman, Keith Abbot, and Bobbie Louise Hawkins helped in many ways. So many volunteers pitched in at my Web sites, especially Melisande, Greg Smith, and the moderators, tech staff, artists, and editors. Thanks to the writers and bloggers who featured my work, especially David Brooks, Hanna Rosin, Jeralyn Merritt, Duncan Black, Stephen Green, Scott Rosenberg, Will Leitch, Rolf Potts, Michelangelo Signorile, Cyn Shepard, and all the members of the Brokeback forum and Open Salon.
Ten years on a massacre can be tough on the soul. Great friends got me through. Extra thanks to Tito Negron, Gregg Trostel, Elizabeth Geoghegan, Staci Amend, Tom Kotsines, Jonathan Oldham, Patrick Brown, Jessica Yoo, Miles Harvey, Kevin Davis, Bill Kelly, Maureen Harrington, Andy Marusak, Tim Vigil, Karen Auvinen, Tom Willison, Pat Patton, Scott Kunce, Greg Dobbin, Ira Kleinberg, Justin Griffin, Chuck Roesel, Bill Lychack, Alex Morelos, the cabin group, Natalie and the Muckrakers in New Orleans, my eight siblings, seven nieces and nephews, and my parents, Matt and Joan Cullen. All the early readers deserve a repeat here, but especially David Yoo, for keeping me amused.
I've had thirty years of great teachers, ending with a string of insightful editors. I got there because of Reg Saner, Peter Michelson, Lucia Berlin, and my other profs at CU; Linda Tufano way back at The Daily Illini; and my high school journalism advisor, Mrs. Barrows. Mrs. Thacker, thanks for what you told me graduation day in 1979. I didn't forget.
Those people helped me. I'm grateful to them and to everyone who helped the kids. Thanks to every paramedic, firefighter, cop, victim's advocate, teacher, custodian, shrink, Red Cross volunteer, detective, doctor, nurse, parent, sibling, friend, and anonymous stranger who came to the aid of the kids, the widow, and their families April 20 and afterward.
Notes
This book relies heavily on the evidence compiled by investigators, including videos, photographs, and more than 25,000 pages of documents. Where the notes say a piece of evidence was released, it was my primary source, except as noted. Jeffco stamped most pages with a unique number in this format, JC-001-000009, where the 9 indicates it was the ninth page compiled. (The prefix "JC-001" is constant.) I provide the JC numbers and online links to most documents in the expanded Web version of these notes, at www.davecullen.com/columbine. Links to many other sources are also maintained there.
I also drew on my own reporting, and the work of other journalists. Three were exceptional: Dan Luzadder led a crack investigative team at the Rocky Mountain News to reconstruct the events of April 20; Alan Prendergast of Westword tirelessly and brilliantly pursued the questions of what police knew before the murders and the cover-up afterward; and Lynn Bartels of the Rocky Mountain News covered nearly every aspect of the story with an unrivaled thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and empathy. I built on their work and am profoundly grateful. Tom Kenworthy's flawless reporting for the Washington Post was also an early inspiration.
Quotes from witnesses and survivors come from my reporting and reliable published accounts. All are attributed in the expanded online notes section. Significant outside sources are identified here.
Through their attorney, Sue and Tom Klebold verified much of the biographical information about their family and their activity after the attacks, adding small bits of information.
CHAPTER 1. MR. D
He told them that he loved them: Most scenes involving Mr. D's speeches relied heavily on my interviews with him and were generally corroborated by others present. In many cases after the murders, I was present. I was the first journalist granted an in-depth interview with DeAngelis, which took place on July 4, 1999, in his office, for approximately two hours. I interviewed him more than twenty times over the next nine years.
twenty-four of Mr. D's kids: Twenty-four differs slightly from the figure in the introduction to the Sheriff's Office Final Report, and from those in some other accounts. The number varies depending on whether those with relatively minor injuries are counted. Twenty-four students were listed, with the names of the hospitals providing treatment, on JC-001-011869 and JC-001-011870. The governor's commission also settled on twenty-four. Twenty-one were shot, and three injured trying to escape.
CHAPTER 2. "REBELS"
pectus excavatum: Er
ic's medical records were released by Jeffco. He also discussed his reactions to the condition in several of his own writings.
Dylan went by VoDKa: Capitalization varied. Eric posted it that way on his Web site. Sometimes Dylan wrote VoDkA, or just Vodka or V.
Cold didn't deter the smokers: I made numerous trips to the smokers' pit over a nine-year period and found the students' behavior remarkably similar, with one exception: for several years after the shootings, students were suspicious of strangers and extremely hostile to the press. In time, that would change.
a friend videotaped him: This scene came from video footage shot by a friend of the killers and released by police. They taped quite a bit of routine behavior.
CHAPTER 3. SPRINGTIME
argued in the Washington Post: Schiraldi, "Hyping School Violence."
A New York Times editorial: Egan, "Where Rampages Begin."
CDC data: The 2008 CDC study "School-Associated Student Homicides: United States, 1992-2006" added the most recent data and corroborated the research Schiraldi cited.
CHAPTER 4. ROCK'N' BOWL
Both boys asked for cash advances: The new owner, Chris Lau, described the advances the boys requested and received and Eric's promotion in his police interview.
Eric had a phone engagement: Susan gave a detailed account of her interaction with Eric in her police interview.
CHAPTER 5. TWO COLUMBINES
in the Columbine Lounge: Most descriptions of the Lounge and its clientele were my observations from several Friday and Saturday night trips, all after the murders. The anecdotes and individuals were all real, down to the song titles, and were representative. Additional details were filled in by Linda Sanders and by friends of Dave's who hung out there with him. These interviews were the primary basis for my accounts of Dave and Linda, before and after the tragedy.
Dave Sanders taught typing: I am indebted to Marilyn Saltzman and Linda Lou Sanders for their book Dave Sanders: Columbine Teacher, Coach, Hero, which I drew on heavily. I corroborated and/or fleshed out the elements I used with Linda and friends of Dave's.
"He was never home": This quote was based on Linda Sanders's recollection of the response by Dave's ex-wife.
Cassie Bernall was not asked: Misty Bernall's memoir was extremely helpful in providing details about Cassie's life and about Brad and Misty's reactions to the tragedy. Additional information came from my interviews with Cassie's classmates, pastors, and church members, as well as TV interviews of the Bernalls. Journalist Wendy Murray also generously provided her field notes, including interviews with the Bernalls.
CHAPTER 6. HIS FUTURE
Dylan was giddy: Descriptions of Dylan at home that afternoon came from people who watched the video Tom Klebold shot. Thanks to Wendy Murray for sharing her interview notes for some of them.
CHAPTER 7. CHURCH ON FIRE
This is a church on fire: The descriptions of all churches and services were from my observations. I attended worship services at nearly a dozen local churches but focused primarily on three: Trinity Christian Center, West Bowles Community Church, and the Foothills Bible Church. I attended services at each of those three more than a dozen times, all after the murders.
CHAPTER 8. MAXIMUM HUMAN DENSITY
seven big bombs: It's possible there was an eighth. To avoid assisting copycats, Jeffco authorities will not specify certain details about the bombs. We know Eric produced two for the cafeteria, two for each car, and at least one decoy, using two tanks. The reports do not state whether that was a single device or two separate ones, and Kate Battan refused to say.
The main event was scripted: The killers' attack plan was reconstructed from a combination of their written and verbal descriptions, diagrams they made, and physical evidence, such as the placement of their cars (which they said would be used for initial firing positions). All those elements corroborated well.
he had nearly seven hundred rounds: Eric's journal chart for bomb production also included a section on ammo. He made a column for each gun, showing each acquisition and deducting for rounds spent in training. He did not label them, except for R (for Reb) beside one column and V (Vodka) next to another. Statements on the Basement Tapes a week and a half before the attack corroborate several entries and help identify what each column signifies. The chart tallies 143 rounds for Dylan's TEC-9, 129 for Eric's rifle, 295 for Dylan's shotgun, and 122 for Eric's (272 initially, less 150 fired off), for a total of 687. This was before Manes purchased the final hundred 9mm rounds, which could be split between the first two guns.
CHAPTER 9. DADS
It came up unexpectedly: Dave's conversation with Mr. D in the bleachers was re-created based on my interviews with DeAngelis.
team captain, Liz Carlston: The scene with Liz Carlston was based on her memoir.
Linda Lou was asleep: The Monday and Tuesday scenes with Linda vary slightly from the depictions in the book she wrote with Saltzman. In my interview, Linda recalled a few things differently, and added more details.
CHAPTER 10. JUDGMENT
the boys rose early: The killers' activities on Tuesday morning were compiled from several sources: 1) eyewitness testimony of parents and neighbors who saw them coming or going, 2) time-stamped receipts, 3) video surveillance cameras at two stores where Eric bought gas and in the Columbine cafeteria, and 4) the killers' handwritten schedules for the morning and taped descriptions of their plans. Several schedules appeared in their notebooks and on assorted scraps of paper, with minor variations. The external evidence indicated that they stuck close to plan.
They got something to eat: Dylan's autopsy report indicted 160 cc of gastric contents, including "fragments of what appears to be potato skins." Given Dylan's love for fast food, that could have meant French fries. Eric's showed 250 cc, no specific contents.
CHAPTER 11. FEMALE DOWN
At 11:19 they opened: For depictions of the shootings, I relied mostly on police interviews with witnesses, the Jeffco Sheriff's Office Final Report, the governor's report, and the El Paso County sheriff's report. Discrepancies were sorted out through interviews with investigators, particularly lead investigator Kate Battan. I treated all Jeffco statements related to its own culpability and police response skeptically. However, the team's documentation of the killers' activities on April 20 was generally thorough and meticulous. Notable exceptions, such as information about Danny Rohrbough's killer, have been corrected. The El Paso County sheriff's department thoroughly reinvestigated Danny's shooting, reinterviewing about 130 witnesses and approaching 65 others who refused. Its 450-page report supersedes the Jeffco report on most of the outside gunfire.
Times came from the Sheriff's Office Final Report, and were arrived at through a variety of means, including: witness testimony and time stamps on 911 calls, dispatch calls, and the surveillance video in the cafeteria. Patti Nielson's 911 call was particularly useful. She dropped the phone but left it off the hook, and 10 minutes, 48 seconds were recorded. The audio was then enhanced by the FBI crime lab. Every shot, crash, scream, and loud verbal exchange described by witnesses could be sequenced against a solid physical record.
Sean burst out laughing: Sean's perceptions of what was happening came from his police reports, conducted by both Jeffco and El Paso counties.
CHAPTER 12. THE PERIMETER
The story took twenty-eight minutes: I relied on transcripts from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and NPR for all descriptions and analysis of real-time TV and radio reporting. CNN stayed live for at least four hours. It had access to feeds from four local stations--affiliates of the three networks and one other station--and cut between them, providing a good cross section of local coverage as well.
CHAPTER 13. "1 BLEEDING TO DEATH"
Always the same question: Most of the descriptions and quotes from the Columbine library were based on my observations. I spent about an hour there, in the early afternoon. Misty Bernall's thoughts and statements at the library are an exception; they were drawn from her book.
&nb
sp; The Leawood scenes came from my later interviews with kids and parents there and from live TV reports I watched later on video.
The grousing increased when: Assessments of police reaction that afternoon came from several sources who were present and in a position to hear.
a SWAT team made its first approach: Actions of the SWAT team came from the Sheriff's Office Final Report and from numerous other documents released by Jeffco. The movements outside were corroborated by news chopper footage. Sources for Dave Sanders's nonrescue are described in the notes for Chapter 26.
Rachel Scott: Some witnesses reported that Rachel cried for several minutes, and the story gained great currency. However, Investigator Kate Battan makes a convincing case that Rachel's gunshot to the temple killed her immediately.
Robyn Anderson watched it all: Most depictions of the killers' friends' reactions came from their police interviews. Additional details came from TV interviews some of them gave.
Nate dialed his house: All the action involving the Klebolds here comes from a combination of their police report, TV interview transcripts from Nate, and news stories documenting Byron's interaction with coworkers. The calls between Nate and Tom were described by each of them, with only minor discrepancies.
kicked Byron out: Dylan's Diversion file contains several references to Byron's eviction. The "Drug/Alcohol History" section of the summary states Byron "was kicked out of the house for continued drug use."
CHAPTER 14. HOSTAGE STANDOFF
Two to three hundred: This is Kate Battan's estimate.
The cops were livid: Police reactions to news coverage were based on my interviews with senior officers and school officials among them that day. Their statements in news reports served as a secondary source.
CHAPTER 15. FIRST ASSUMPTION
Detectives arrived at the Harris place: Several officers filed detailed reports about their encounters at the Harris and Klebold homes.