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Cops Cleared at Columbine
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Review: Harris killed Rohrbough
By Kieran Nicholson
Denver Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - Updated 4:15 p.m. - Daniel Rohrbough was "undeniably shot and killed by gunman Eric Harris" and not by a police officer as his parents allege, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office concludes in its review of the Columbine High shooting.
Summary
Nineteen witnesses see Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shoot in the direction of fellow Columbine High School student Daniel Rohrbough starting about 11:22 a.m. on April 20, 1999.
Fourteen witnesses see Rohrbough turn slightly to run or get away, when he is shot in the left leg. Daniel falls to the right and is shot twice more, once in the heart and once in the liver. He collapses onto the sidewalk.
At 11:25, teacher Karen Nielsen telephones 911 from the teachers' lounge and says three students are down, including Rohrbough.
At 11:46, Denver police Sgt. Dan O'Shea - blocks from the school - asks Denver dispatchers what is happening at Columbine. Informed of the shooting, O'Shea responds, "Show me en route, in civilian attire."
Ballistics tests show the bullet that hit Rohrbough's liver was fired from Harris' Hi-Point semiautomatic rifle.
The shots to Rohrbough's heart and liver entered the at the same angle. El Paso investigators surmise the shot to the chest also was fired from Harris' weapon; that exit wound is consistent with Harris' ammunition and inconsistent with O'Shea's ammunition.
"Daniel Rohrbough's death was almost instantaneous and without a doubt, occurred prior to the arrival of any law enforcement officers," says the 33-page summary of the report, which was released today.
Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone asked for an independent El Paso County investigation in December. Rohbrough's parents first claimed two years ago that a police bullet killed their son, challenging the findings of the Jefferson County Columbine report.
That report, released in May 2000, found that Harris and Dylan Klebold fired at Rohrbough and a small group of students outside the school cafeteria, with Klebold then walking down some stairs and firing again, killing Rohrbough instantly.
In November, Rohrbough's parents filed federal court papers naming a specific policeman - Denver SWAT officer Dan O'Shea - as the shooter.
After a four-month probe, El Paso County Sheriff John Anderson said today that his investigators found "undeniable proof" that O'Shea arrived at Columbine 30 minutes after Rohrbough was shot. Rohrbough was one of 12 students killed that day, along with teach Dave Sanders.
Anderson called Harris' shooting of Rohrbough "premeditated murder."
The El Paso report says Rohrbough was standing outside on a sidewalk when Harris shot him. Harris deliberately shot him from the sidewalk leading to the west doors of the school, with a semi-automatic rifle.
El Paso investigators based their findings on interviews with 141 witnesses - including students, teachers and law enforcement officers - as well as laboratory results of ballistic material, crime-scene reconstructions and a timeline of events.
The report said another 30 people declined to be interviewed and 46 avoided contact or could not be located.
A lawmaker will pursue a legislative panel to investigate the Columbine High massacre, saying the independent sheriff's report did not address all the lingering questions.
The panel would look at what lessons can be learned from law enforcement's response to the shooting attack and how officials can prepare for a similar attack, state Rep. Don Lee, R-Littleton, said.
It also would examine what can be learned about reacting to advance warning signs of an attack and the destructive behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold prior to the attack, Lee said.
Klebold and Harris killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in suburban Littleton.
Some Columbine students and relatives of victims have alleged in lawsuits that the sheriff's office ignored advance warning signs of the attack. Most of the lawsuits were dismissed, while some have been appealed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,54%7E533854,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Kieran Nicholson
Denver Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - Updated 4:15 p.m. - Daniel Rohrbough was "undeniably shot and killed by gunman Eric Harris" and not by a police officer as his parents allege, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office concludes in its review of the Columbine High shooting.
Summary
Nineteen witnesses see Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shoot in the direction of fellow Columbine High School student Daniel Rohrbough starting about 11:22 a.m. on April 20, 1999.
Fourteen witnesses see Rohrbough turn slightly to run or get away, when he is shot in the left leg. Daniel falls to the right and is shot twice more, once in the heart and once in the liver. He collapses onto the sidewalk.
At 11:25, teacher Karen Nielsen telephones 911 from the teachers' lounge and says three students are down, including Rohrbough.
At 11:46, Denver police Sgt. Dan O'Shea - blocks from the school - asks Denver dispatchers what is happening at Columbine. Informed of the shooting, O'Shea responds, "Show me en route, in civilian attire."
Ballistics tests show the bullet that hit Rohrbough's liver was fired from Harris' Hi-Point semiautomatic rifle.
The shots to Rohrbough's heart and liver entered the at the same angle. El Paso investigators surmise the shot to the chest also was fired from Harris' weapon; that exit wound is consistent with Harris' ammunition and inconsistent with O'Shea's ammunition.
"Daniel Rohrbough's death was almost instantaneous and without a doubt, occurred prior to the arrival of any law enforcement officers," says the 33-page summary of the report, which was released today.
Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone asked for an independent El Paso County investigation in December. Rohbrough's parents first claimed two years ago that a police bullet killed their son, challenging the findings of the Jefferson County Columbine report.
That report, released in May 2000, found that Harris and Dylan Klebold fired at Rohrbough and a small group of students outside the school cafeteria, with Klebold then walking down some stairs and firing again, killing Rohrbough instantly.
In November, Rohrbough's parents filed federal court papers naming a specific policeman - Denver SWAT officer Dan O'Shea - as the shooter.
After a four-month probe, El Paso County Sheriff John Anderson said today that his investigators found "undeniable proof" that O'Shea arrived at Columbine 30 minutes after Rohrbough was shot. Rohrbough was one of 12 students killed that day, along with teach Dave Sanders.
Anderson called Harris' shooting of Rohrbough "premeditated murder."
The El Paso report says Rohrbough was standing outside on a sidewalk when Harris shot him. Harris deliberately shot him from the sidewalk leading to the west doors of the school, with a semi-automatic rifle.
El Paso investigators based their findings on interviews with 141 witnesses - including students, teachers and law enforcement officers - as well as laboratory results of ballistic material, crime-scene reconstructions and a timeline of events.
The report said another 30 people declined to be interviewed and 46 avoided contact or could not be located.
A lawmaker will pursue a legislative panel to investigate the Columbine High massacre, saying the independent sheriff's report did not address all the lingering questions.
The panel would look at what lessons can be learned from law enforcement's response to the shooting attack and how officials can prepare for a similar attack, state Rep. Don Lee, R-Littleton, said.
It also would examine what can be learned about reacting to advance warning signs of an attack and the destructive behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold prior to the attack, Lee said.
Klebold and Harris killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in suburban Littleton.
Some Columbine students and relatives of victims have alleged in lawsuits that the sheriff's office ignored advance warning signs of the attack. Most of the lawsuits were dismissed, while some have been appealed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,54%7E533854,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878