The Columbine Guide
All Evidence / Reports

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All Evidence / Reports Items Click any white phrase

1. Official government reports
2. Overview of the released evidence (nearly 30,00 pages)
3. Highlights of the released evidence
4. Complete listing of the released evidence, with commentary and links
5. Instructions to obtain of any released evidence (most are linked here, but if you want your own official DVDs, cassette's etc., it's all available for order)

1. Official Government Reports:

• Jeffco Sheriff's Office Final Report on the Columbine High School Shootings. (Link hosted by CNN.) Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. CD, May 15, 2000.

• “A Reader's Guide to the Columbine Report.” Salon, May 17, 2000. Lindsey, Daryl.

• The Text of the Columbine Report - NEW LINK!

• The Report of Governor Bill Owens’ Columbine Review Commission. Hon. William H. Erickson, Chairman. May 2001.

• Reinvestigation into the Death of Daniel Rohrbough at Columbine High School on April 20, 1990. El Paso County Sheriff's Office, John Wesley Anderson, Sheriff. April 10, 2002.

• FBI Report: The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective. Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Department of Justice. Critical Incidence Response Group. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. Mary Ellen O'Toole.

• The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education. May 2002.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School-Associated Student Homicides — United States, 1992 - 2006. 57(02);33-36. January 18, 2008.

 

2. Overview of the released evidence

As of December 2008, the Jeffco Sheriff's office has released 23 separate batches of information, any/all of which they will send you for a small fee. Most cost about $15 (each)—acquiring everything will set you back about $400. This page lists the entire inventory, with prices, and ordering information. Material includes 911 audio tapes, videos of Eric and Dylan (but not The Basement Tapes), tens of thousands of pages of police files (on DVD), lab reports, autopsy reports, all the warrants (they fill a thick book), Eric and Dylan's journals, DA reports from the killers' Diversion Program, etc.  A few things to be aware of:

• For the latest info on releases, follow this link to the Jeffco web page. Unfortunately, they change the link with annoying frequency, so if the link is broken, go to their homepage and type Columbine in the search box.
  
  
• The Jeffco site conveniently omits the report of the grand jury which investigated their behavior, and offered harsh criticism. But the two reports are online. I have added my own entry for them at the bottom.

3. Highlights of the released evidence

A handful of the releases are most valuable:

1. Nearly 1,000 pages of the killers journals and other writings (Item #23 below).  You can download it here from the RMN, but it's 34 MB and 1,000 pages in random order. See the journals/writings section for a guide to the best material, with links to small clusters of pages.
2. 11,000 pages of investigative files (Item #9, below).  This includes most police files. There is incredible information here, but it's nearly impossible to find anything. I will soon post two indexes here: one to most popular items, and a second complete index (which itself is huge, but you can electronically search it easily to find a particular name and get the page number for their police file.) 
3. The killers' files from their year in the Diversion program (Items E & F, below). I have not found these online anywhere, but will soon scan in my paper copies from the DA's office, and post the link here.
4. The Grand Jury report (Item A, below.)
5. Several videos. See descriptions below. Eventually, I will post some with links on my Videos page.

4. Complete listing of the released evidence:

This section identifies all official material released by the Jeffco Sheriff's Department and other agencies. (FYI: most were released by court order). The white items are links. It also includes commentary from Dave on each item, indicating its relevance to most users, and what you're likely to find of value there.

(1) $15.00   Sheriff's Office Final Report on the Columbine High School shootings on CD (Released May 15, 2000).

Comments from Dave: This report is infamous for what it left out rather than what it included, but don't miss it. This was not half the report it should have been, and it's terribly organized, so information can be buried in maddening little pockets, yet there is a massive amount of information here. The timelines to the massacre are especially useful, with minute-by-minute accounts, and maps showing who was hit when and where. (Follow all the links on the timelines.) There are also brief overviews on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. These are only a fraction of what they should be, but they do hit several key high points.

For most people, this will be the second-most valuable item on this list (after #23).



(2) $10.00  Littleton Fire Department video and raw helicopter footage by Channel 4 on VHS tape (Released April 26, 2000).

Comments from Dave: This is nothing like the description suggests. It is called "Littleton Fire Department video" because a fireman compiled it. It's video footage of the bloody wreckage in the library, set to music—Sarah McLachlan singing "I Will Remember You." Yes, seriously. There is a lot of blood, with post-it notes identifying where each victim was. It was extremely hard for me to watch. It only lasts a few minutes. The aerial footage is unrelated and basically worthless.



(3) $30.00  Cafeteria surveillance on DVD  (Released June 7, 2000).

Comments from Dave: This is actual footage of Eric and Dylan in the cafeteria, shooting at the big bombs trying to detonate them. It's tough to watch, too.



(4) $10.00  "Rampart Range" video VHS tape (Released October 21, 2003). The video contains graphic language.

Comments from Dave: This is Eric and Dylan out with friends practicing firing their weapons shortly before the murders (at a place called Rampart Range). It' long and tedious, with lots of shocking moments where Eric and Dylan say some horrible things, like a bowling pin exploding like someone's head.



(5)  $10.00  "Crowd" video VHS tape (Released February 26, 2004). Approximately 38 minutes of crowd footage filmed by JCSO Crime Lab outside Columbine High School after 1 p.m. on April 20, 1999.

Comments from Dave: Not a lot here. You'll see Eric and Dylan's friend Chris Morris questioned briefly, and then put in a squad car. And you get a sense of the mass confusion while parents and students waited for the attack to end.



(6)  $10.00  Klebold/Harris footage VHS tape (Released February 26, 2004). Miscellaneous footage of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold retrieved from school or given to JCSO by citizens. Segments dubbed onto master tape: 94 minutes long.

Comments from Dave: Some of this was surprisingly enlightening.



(7)  $25.00  Two CD-ROM set of the Jefferson County 911 and dispatch audio (Released August 7, 2000).

Comments from Dave: self-explanatory.



(8)  $25.00  Denver dispatch cassette tapes containing 7 1/2 hours of communication (Released March 6, 2003).

Comments from Dave: self-explanatory.



(9) $30.00  11,000 pages of investigative files on one DVD (Released November 21, 2000).  Main release of reports.

Comments from Dave: There is tremendous information in here, but the order is nearly random. Resources to sort it ocming soon.



(10)  $15.00  Additional investigative files (Released August 8, 2001) on one CD containing:
- Additional ancillary reports (tips, Internet, threats, and connected reports)
- Audio cassette of Jefferson County 911 dispatch tape (missed side of tape from previous release)
- Two large crime scene diagrams (from CD)

Comments from Dave: Much less valuable than #9.



(11)  $15.00  Printout of evidence log on CD  (Released April 2001). This is only 200 pages long and duplicative of the evidence books released later.

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(12)  $15.00  Evidence books on CD  (Released May 11, 2001).

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(13)  $15.00  Crime Scene Processing Team reports and sketches on CD  (Released June 19, 2001).

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(14)  $15.00  FBI Crime Scene Processing Team reports and sketches on CD (Released September 5, 2001).

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(15)  $3.00  Colorado Bureau of Investigation laboratory report, 5 pages (Released May 31, 2000).  Note: This report is included in the 11,000 pages of investigative files that were released later.

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(16) $15.00  CBI laboratory report on CD (Released February 6, 2002).

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(17)  $15.00  Misc. items on CD containing the following:
-  Draft search affidavit (Released April 10, 2001)
-  CD (audio) of the shoot team interviews (Released April 10, 2001)
-  Written transcript of an interview with Columbine High School Community Resource Officer Neil Gardner, and the executive summary of the library investigative team (Released April 10, 2001)

Comments from Dave: The Draft search affidavit is huge!



(18)  $15.00  Warrants book on CD (Released June 9, 2003).

Comments from Dave: This is surprisingly enlightening in places, too, especially the April 20 warrants to search the Harris and Klebold homes. Each of those runs several pages, quoting extensively from Eric's website, and documenting that before the bodies were found in the library, the cops knew a great deal about these killers--i.e., had been warned.



(19)  $15.00  Tracking sheets, investigative index and other Columbine documents on CD (Released January 8, 2003).

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(20)  $15.00  Fifty-seven pages of documents that show slight differences from previously-released originals, and documents that were inadvertently unreleased
on CD (Released 2003).

Comments from Dave: for hard-core sleuths only.



(21)  $15.00  FBI report of interview with Randy, Judy and Brooks Brown on CD (Released May 22, 2001).

Comments from Dave: Interesting.



(22)  $15.00  Additional pages/Harris Web site: 1997 memo and Web pages on CD (Released October 30, 2003).

Comments from Dave: Bombshells. It was shocking to find out how much the cops were warned two years ahead of time.



(23)  $15.00  936 pages of documents seized from Harris and Klebold residences/vehicles on CD (Released July 6, 2006).  Pages are in PDF format on a single CD.

*Note:  All orders must be paid in U.S. currency and must provide an exact mailing address.



Comments from Dave: It took seven years, but this is the single most important release ever, by far. There is incredible information here, mostly from Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold themselves.

The main problems are 1) finding the good stuff buried there (among page after page of daytimers, for example-- which are occasionally-revealing, but mostly not, and 2) reading their damned handwriting. See the journals / writing section for the best material and links to clusters of pages.

(A)  Grand Jury Investigation Reports.

Comments from Dave: On Sept 17, 2004, the CO attorney general released the report of a grand jury he appointed to look into allegations of a cover-up by the sheriff's department. No indictments were made, but the grand jury expressed distress at "troubling" activity.

You can read the full grand jury report here, and a separate report from the Colorado attorney general (now U.S. senator) here. (Both are PDFs.) They are pretty damning.

(B)  Autopsy summaries (Released February 6, 2001). Contact Jefferson County Coroner's Office, 800 Jefferson County Parkway, (303) 271-6480.  Must pick up in person.  $1.25 per page.
Comments from Dave: self-explanatory.



(C)  Klebold autopsy reports (Released February 23, 2001).  Contact Jefferson County Coroner's Office, 800 Jefferson County Parkway, (303) 271-6480.  Must pick up in person.  $1.25 per page.

Comments from Dave: self-explanatory.



(D)  El Paso County Sheriff's Report (Released April 10, 2002).  Contact El Paso County Sheriff's Office: 719-520-7144.

Comments from Dave: An investigation into the death of Danny Rohrbough.



(E)  Juvenile Diversion program documents (Harris);  (Released November 4, 2002). Contact Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, 500 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden, CO 80401.  303-271-6800.

Comments from Dave: Items E and F are extremely revealing. Diversion is the program Eric and Dylan were accepted into for the breaking into the van and stealing electronic equipment in January 1998 (multiple felonies). The files have some great stuff. Each boy and his parents filled out an 8- and 10-page questionnaire, and they revealed a lot. There are also notes every two weeks from their counselors, etc. Very good stuff.

(F)  Juvenile Diversion program documents (Klebold);  (Released November 22, 2002). Contact Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, 500 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden, CO 80401.  303-271-6800.


Comments from Dave: (See previous.)

5. Instructions to obtain any released evidence:

The following verbiage on acquiring this material comes directly from the Jeffco Sheriff's website:

With the exception of the last five items, all Columbine documents are now released by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Records Unit.  In March 2007, most paper documents were converted to CD to provide a more user-friendly format for customers, as well as to standardize and simplify processing, shipping and associated fees.

To obtain released items, please follow the procedures below:

1.  Download application.
An Application for Columbine Documents (PDF) must be completed, listing the item number and item(s) requested.   If necessary, this application form can be faxed, mailed or emailed to you.

2. Submit application.
Submit the application form, with your signature, to:

      Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
      Records Unit
      200 Jefferson County Parkway    
      Golden CO  80401
      or
      Fax:  (303) 271-5552 or
      Email:  Records@jeffco.us
      Telephone:  (303) 271-5542

3. Shipping arrangements.
For U.S. addresses:  Fees listed for each item include shipping and handling charges.   Fees can be paid by cash (in person only), check, money order or credit card.  Make checks payable to JCSO.  There is a place for credit card information at the bottom of the application form.  Master Card or Visa only.

For international addresses: Processing and shipping fees for some Columbine items vary from country to country.  
- Fees to ship CDs and DVDs are the same as listed for U.S. addresses. 
- For all remaining documents (VHS and audio tapes) please send inquires regarding fees and availability to the Records Unit as listed above. 
- Fees must be paid in U.S. currency.  Please do not send payment for VHS and audio tapes before verifying the actual shipping costs with the Records Unit.

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