Shooter's parents met with officials Friday

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

The parents of one of Columbine High School's teen-age killers were "very cooperative" in an hour-and-forty-five-minute interview with investigators.

Thomas and Susan Klebold met with investigators to answer questions about their 17-year-old son, Dylan, on Friday, Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas said.

"They were obviously concerned about everything that's transpired," Thomas said.

The couple were "very cooperative" in the interview, which ended Friday evening, Thomas said.

Klebold, 17, and his friend Eric Harris, 18, stormed the school on April 20 with guns and bombs in an attack that left 15 dead and 23 injured.

Investigators talked with the Klebolds at the downtown Denver offices of their attorney.

The meeting at Isaacson, Rosenbaum, Woods & Levy lasted from 4:15 to 6 p.m., said Lisa Simon, a spokeswoman for the firm and the Klebolds.

The Klebolds' attorney, Gary Lozow, attended the session, along with representatives of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the district attorney's office, Simon said.

It would be unfair, Thomas said, to comment on the Klebolds' demeanor during the interview.

"They've had a very emotional and difficult time themselves," Thomas said. "At some point the public can judge them based on the facts, but I don't think this is the time to do that, because we haven't finished our investigation yet."

While Thomas praised Klebold's parents for their cooperation, he said he was disappointed that Harris' parents have refused to talk with investigators unless they are granted immunity from criminal prosecution.

"Part of the investigation is trying to determine why this happened," Thomas said. "Family background is important."

Thomas said he still hopes to set up a meeting with the couple.

"They may be concerned about the public's attitude toward them," Thomas said. "When the stress and the pressure of all this is a little bit less, I think they may decide they do want to talk to us."

Klebold and Harris apparently took their own lives shortly after bombing the school and gunning down fellow students and a teacher.

The suppliers of a semiautomatic pistol used by the two teen-agers could face criminal charges in the case.

Authorities expect to make at least one arrest in the coming days.

Bob Ransome, an attorney representing the person who sold the TEC-9 to the killers, said there will be a major development in the case this week.

Asked whether he was referring to an arrest, he said, "or something like that."

At the same time, investigators are looking into the possibility of a wider conspiracy. Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone said it's likely that others had specific knowledge of the assault that Harris had apparently planned for more than a year.

A diary confiscated from Harris' house included a detailed plan for the attack. His writings also talked about his desire to kill 500 people and, if he and Klebold escaped the school alive, hijack a plane and crash it into New York City.

Harris and Klebold, described as outcasts who belonged to a group known as the Trench Coat Mafia, had first come to the attention of authorities more than a year ago. In March 1998, the parents of another Columbine student reported that Harris had threatened to kill their son on his Web site.

Among the information they gave to Jefferson County authorities were printouts from Harris' Web site in which he talked about building bombs and planning mass murder.

Neither he nor Klebold were ever questioned.

The information was passed along to Neil Gardner, the deputy assigned to Columbine High School. He kept an eye on Harris and Klebold, even talking with them from time to time.

But he shared only limited details with the two deans at the school, and they were not given a copy of the police report, school district spokesman Rick Kaufman said Saturday.

"There was nothing else that came out of it," Kaufman said. "Academically, these were two very good students, so it didn't raise a lot of red flags."

Principal Frank DeAngelis said Saturday that he knew nothing of the police report until he read about it in the newspaper.

Saturday was a slow day in the investigation -- most detectives were given some time off, and authorities expected no new developments until at least early in the week.

The investigation, described by authorities as the largest ever undertaken in Colorado, is being directed from a "war room" on the first floor of the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Investigators have more than 1,100 leads to pursue, and technicians have between 8,000 and 10,000 pieces of evidence to examine.

The Harrises' request for immunity does not raise any red flags suggesting that the couple has something to hide, Denver attorney Scott Robinson said Saturday.

"In a situation like this," Robinson said, "where it's obvious that the public, law enforcement and just about everybody in the world wants somebody alive to be held accountable, where a scapegoat is being scrupulously sought, who can blame a potential target defendant in wanting immunity from criminal prosecution before talking with the police?"

This case is much different from the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation in which detectives tried early on to interview the parents. No one is suggesting the Harrises were involved in the actual crime.

"If what we're looking for is some way to blame them criminally or civilly based on the concept of poor parenting, who can blame them for not wanting to cooperate?" Robinson asked. "It doesn't save any lives or bring a perpetrator to justice."

Picture this in court, Robinson said: "The discussion goes to computers. Do you know what a Web site is, Mr. Harris? Did you know your son had a Web site? Don't you think you should have known?... You must not be a very good parent."

In the meantime, the Klebolds said they will make themselves available for more interviews if they're needed.

Their law firm has received about 50 letters, cards and postcards, as well as phone calls, from people sympathetic to the Klebolds.

"They wanted to pass along to them that there were people out there who were sympathetic to their situation," Simon said. "They've all been really, really positive."

News staff writer Hector Gutierrez contributed to this report.