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CNN Live Today
Police Release Evidence in Columbine Shootings
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, the horror of the Columbine massacre revisited. The Colorado attorney general delivered a report today on how authorities handled the crisis.
It has been nearly four years since two students went on a shooting rampage in the school. Fourteen people were killed before the gunmen committed suicide.
Yesterday, relatives of the victims got to see the physical evidence collected from the scene.
CNN's Adrian Baschuk is in Littleton, Colorado, this morning.
Adrian, good morning.
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning to you.
A frustration that those parents have voiced to me is why has this taken five years to finally come to light?
Well, officials won't exactly comment. They simply say that now this is being released so that the public and authorities will see more of this and maybe, hopefully, another Columbine can be averted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARRYL SCOTT, FATHER OF VICTIM: My youngest son Mike...
BASCHUK (voice-over): Since April 20, 1999, Darryl Scott has wrestled with one question.
SCOTT: Why? It was just such a senseless taking of life.
BASCHUK: His daughter, Rachel Scott, was the first classmate shot and killed by Eric Harris.
SCOTT: It's always a tough thing to look at, is a weapon that killed your child.
BASCHUK: The state attorney general, Ken Salazar, and police released this video of the Columbine killers last October.
Last night, victims' families got their look, and today the public will see 35,000 pages of reports from the five-year investigation, as well as the firearms, spent bullets, and pipe bombs Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used to kill 12 students, a teacher, and themselves. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing how those two kids could get all that without -- in the school, without being noticed.
BASCHUK: But is this full disclosure? Some victims' parents accuse school officials and investigator of ignoring warning signs. Conversations between the school staff and lawyers remain sealed.
The school district's spokesman agrees there were red flags but said this...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing that anyone individually could say would have led them to believe there was an imminent attack at Columbine High School or its students.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASCHUK: Now parents especially hope they will get answers on why police investigators did not follow through on anonymous tips and complaints filed about Eric Harris dating back to 1997.
The reports detail episode of Harris allegedly making death threat to students over the Internet, as well as connections to making and setting off pipe bombs in Littleton -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Adrian Baschuk, thanks so much for that.
The display of evidence from the Columbine massacre left some victims' relatives in shock, others in tears.
Rachel Scott was one of the students killed in the rampage. You heard from her father, Darryl, in the piece just a moment ago.
On CNN's CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," he talked more about seeing that evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: I was overwhelmed by the number of bullet shells and the -- the explosives that I saw.
And one of the things I didn't know was that Eric and Dylan's car was just absolutely loaded with gas, with bombs, with other guns and with ammunition. And it's almost as though they had plans beyond Columbine. And I wasn't aware of that.
But we -- you know, we've read about the number of bullets. We've seen reports. But when you actually see the empty bullet shells and the guns and all of those things, it's quite stunning.
(END VIDEO CLIP
COLLINS: Scott and other family members say they're still looking for answers about evidence leading up to the massacre.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, the horror of the Columbine massacre revisited. The Colorado attorney general delivered a report today on how authorities handled the crisis.
It has been nearly four years since two students went on a shooting rampage in the school. Fourteen people were killed before the gunmen committed suicide.
Yesterday, relatives of the victims got to see the physical evidence collected from the scene.
CNN's Adrian Baschuk is in Littleton, Colorado, this morning.
Adrian, good morning.
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning to you.
A frustration that those parents have voiced to me is why has this taken five years to finally come to light?
Well, officials won't exactly comment. They simply say that now this is being released so that the public and authorities will see more of this and maybe, hopefully, another Columbine can be averted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARRYL SCOTT, FATHER OF VICTIM: My youngest son Mike...
BASCHUK (voice-over): Since April 20, 1999, Darryl Scott has wrestled with one question.
SCOTT: Why? It was just such a senseless taking of life.
BASCHUK: His daughter, Rachel Scott, was the first classmate shot and killed by Eric Harris.
SCOTT: It's always a tough thing to look at, is a weapon that killed your child.
BASCHUK: The state attorney general, Ken Salazar, and police released this video of the Columbine killers last October.
Last night, victims' families got their look, and today the public will see 35,000 pages of reports from the five-year investigation, as well as the firearms, spent bullets, and pipe bombs Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used to kill 12 students, a teacher, and themselves. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing how those two kids could get all that without -- in the school, without being noticed.
BASCHUK: But is this full disclosure? Some victims' parents accuse school officials and investigator of ignoring warning signs. Conversations between the school staff and lawyers remain sealed.
The school district's spokesman agrees there were red flags but said this...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing that anyone individually could say would have led them to believe there was an imminent attack at Columbine High School or its students.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASCHUK: Now parents especially hope they will get answers on why police investigators did not follow through on anonymous tips and complaints filed about Eric Harris dating back to 1997.
The reports detail episode of Harris allegedly making death threat to students over the Internet, as well as connections to making and setting off pipe bombs in Littleton -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Adrian Baschuk, thanks so much for that.
The display of evidence from the Columbine massacre left some victims' relatives in shock, others in tears.
Rachel Scott was one of the students killed in the rampage. You heard from her father, Darryl, in the piece just a moment ago.
On CNN's CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," he talked more about seeing that evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: I was overwhelmed by the number of bullet shells and the -- the explosives that I saw.
And one of the things I didn't know was that Eric and Dylan's car was just absolutely loaded with gas, with bombs, with other guns and with ammunition. And it's almost as though they had plans beyond Columbine. And I wasn't aware of that.
But we -- you know, we've read about the number of bullets. We've seen reports. But when you actually see the empty bullet shells and the guns and all of those things, it's quite stunning.
(END VIDEO CLIP
COLLINS: Scott and other family members say they're still looking for answers about evidence leading up to the massacre.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com