Springs gun shop owner says 5 teens in trench coats tried to buy machine gun

By Kevin Vaughan, Ann Carnahan
and Karen Abbott Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

Dylan Klebold's prom date bought two of the weapons used in last week's assault on Columbine High School at a Denver-area gun show, authorities said Monday.

Investigators also are checking a report from the owner of a Colorado Springs gun shop that five teen-agers tried to buy an M-60 machine gun and a silencer-equipped assault pistol in early March. The five were captured on a store surveillance videoptape that was turned over to police.

Mel Bernstein, owner of Dragon Arms, told investigators one of the teens was Eric Harris, Klebold's partner in the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Bernstein said the group of teens in his store included four boys in trench coats and one girl.

"They were real mopey, like punk kids with the makeup on, like punk rockers," Bernstein said. "To me, it was just another bunch of kids who wished they could own everything they see on the wall here. This is like Toys R Us to them."

Bernstein said "Harris was doing all the talking."

Klebold and Harris wore black trench coats when they launched their assault last week.

Klebold's prom date, identified as 18-year-old Robyn K. Anderson, was questioned by investigators Monday and later released, Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone said.

Investigators classified her as a witness, not a suspect.

But Stone acknowledged it was possible she knew how Klebold and Harris planned to use the guns.

"She's not going to use those for pheasant hunting," Stone said.

Investigators continue to believe that Harris and Klebold had help in carrying out the assault that killed 12 students and one teacher and wounded 21. The assault ended when Harris and Klebold killed themselves.

It was shortly after 11 a.m. April 20 -- a quiet Tuesday morning -- that Harris, 18, and Klebold, 17, unleashed an arsenal of bombs and guns on their classmates and teachers at Columbine. Besides their bombs and two sawed-off shotguns, the teens also fired a 9 mm carbine assault rifle and a TEC-DC9 semiautomatic pistol.

The TEC-DC9 is a pistol capable of firing a full clip of rounds in seconds. Clips can carry more than 30 rounds each and be rapidly reloaded.

Also Monday, more chilling details of writings taken from the teen-agers' homes emerged.

A Web site kept by Harris listed names of people he did not like.

Authorities said they believe, however, that none of his enemies was among the dead.

"It looked like a pretty random thing," Stone said of the shootings.

The sheriff also discussed more passages in a diary found in Harris' home. In it, Harris called himself "Rebel" and Klebold "Vodka."

The diary included a detailed timeline of the killers' schedule for April 20. It started with their waking up at 5 a.m., Stone said, and included things such as "go pick up the propane, so-and-so picks up the gasoline."

It also detailed Harris' hope that he and Klebold could kill at least 500 students, attack homes in the neighborhood and hijack a plane they would crash into New York City.

Nearly a week after the assault, Denver was a metro area on edge Monday.

Attendance at schools across the metro area plummeted.

Police in Sheridan searched unsuccessfully for a suspect who reportedly grabbed a 12-year-old girl while she was walking between buildings. The girl was not hurt.

The man or boy in a black ski mask and black clothing apparently shouted a threat at Sheridan Middle School but did not mention Columbine. Police stepped up their presence at the school.

Normandy Elementary School in unincorporated south Jefferson County was evacuated briefly at 10 a.m. Monday, sheriff's Sgt. Jim Parr said, after a backpack that couldn't be accounted for was found. Parr said a bomb squad determined that it was a harmless child's backpack.

Across the country, tributes continued.

Stock trading on Wall Street was halted for a minute of silence in honor of Columbine's victims.

A one-minute blackout also is planned today by dozens of Colroado television and radio stations today. It's scheduled for 11:21 a.m. -- the minute the first 911 call came in from the school a week ago today.

And Gov. Bill Owens ordered that American and Colorado flags be flown at half-staff through Thursday -- the day the last of the Columbine victims is to be laid to rest.

Determining where Harris and Klebold got their guns remained a top priority of investigators.

Stone said Anderson bought two of the weapons at a Denver-area gun show within the past year. He said "it's a pretty good assumption" she bought them within the past five months because she just turned 18 in November.

Investigators continue to believe strongly that somebody knew something in the days and weeks leading up to the two boys' siege on Adolf Hitler's 110th birthday.

"There's a lot of munitions there," Stone said. "Either somebody else brought it in or they brought it in and stored it. ... It's hard to get that in under your raincoat and not be noticed."

Investigators said they haven't cleared three boot- and black-coat-clad teen-agers detained in the confusion after the shooting.

"I'm suspicious of their story," Stone said, adding that they remain "under investigation."

"They are not out of the woods in this one yet," he said.

One question was answered Monday.

Toxicology reports showed that the gunmen did not have drugs or alcohol in their systems when they died. Nor did the other 13 who died, Jefferson County coroner Nancy Bodelson said.

But investigators were still grappling with many other questions.

For example, sheriff's deputy Steve Davis said it was possible Harris and Klebold killed themselves only a short time after the shooting began about 11:20 a.m. Police officers didn't find their bodies until about 4 p.m., but a detailed time line is still being prepared.

The gunmen's bombs -- in some cases metal fragments and bits of duct tape wrapped around some of the explosives -- will be sent for analysis to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Investigators said the death toll would have been 300 or more if Harris and Klebold had been better bomb makers. When they killed themselves, Davis said, "there was still plenty of ammo with them."

"I have no idea," Davis said when asked how the gunmen picked New York City as their fantasy final target. "Maybe the density of population, for all I know."

He wasn't the only one who remained mystified by the attack.

Linda Pollock, a former next-door neighbor of the Harris family, said Eric's parents, Wayne and Kathy Harris, were "very nice people."

"If I could talk to them I would say, 'Please don't think you're bad parents."' she said.

"I don't blame the parents. If they (children) don't want you to find or see something, you're not going to find or see it."

Staff writers Lynn Bartels, Kevin Flynn, Jeff Kass, Lou Kilzer and Dan Luzadder contributed to this report.