Probe finds no evidence of 3rd gunman in attack at Columbine, or help from anyone in school

By Dan Luzadder
Denver Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau

JEFFERSON COUNTY -- Final ballistic reports show no evidence of a third gunman at Columbine High School, sources close to the investigation said.

In addition, the sources said, there is no evidence from the crime scene to show that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had help from anyone inside the school in carrying out their April 20 attack.

Dozens of witnesses interviewed by police after the crime claimed that from five to eight individuals participated in the shooting that left 15 people dead, including the killers, and more than 20 injured.

Investigators have been waiting for three months on evidence-analysis reports to determine whether anyone helped Harris and Klebold, and then escaped detection.

Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone on Monday said he believes that Harris and Klebold had help carrying bombs into the school but authorities didn't have "sufficient evidence to charge anyone." He later backed off the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted.

State, federal and local officials have confirmed that ballistic evidence collected by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation at the crime scene shows only bullets, fragments, live rounds and shell casings from the weapons carried by the two gunmen and police.

Sources said that no fingerprints found on guns or bomb materials could be traced to anyone other than Harris or Klebold.

Police sources said Wednesday that some follow-up tests could be done later, but ballistic reports turned over to Jefferson County detectives are considered complete.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis said Wednesday that detectives still assigned to the investigation will meticulously review the data compiled by the CBI.

Davis was reluctant to confirm that other gunmen have been ruled out.

"But I would think if the CBI had found such evidence in their analysis they would have told us about that right away," he said.

Details from preliminary ballistics tests have been received by sheriff's investigators piecemeal over the past two months and have been used to assist them in interviews with witnesses or potential suspects.

But the volumes of detailed reports done by CBI have been turned over to investigators within the past few days.

Investigators have also kept in contact with the progress of other forensic tests by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the FBI.

But Davis said the department has yet to receive those final lab reports.

Reviews of the ballistics evidence and additional witness interviews related to the findings are expected to take at least several weeks, Davis said.

John Kiekbusch, Jefferson County's Law Enforcement Division chief, said earlier this week that he does not expect to see evidence that links individuals other than Harris, 18, and Klebold, 17, directly to the attack at Columbine.

Kiekbusch said investigators are continuing to examine findings from more than 3,000 leads, trying to determine if anyone other than the two gunmen knew in advance of plans to bomb the school and kill fellow students.

Interviews with witnesses are also continuing.

Investigators are working toward a final, detailed report on the Columbine shootings, which they now expect to make public sometime in November.

Only two arrests have been made in the case. Mark Manes is charged with selling a handgun to a minor. He has admitted that he sold a TEC-DC9 semi-automatic pistol to Harris and Klebold while they were both 17. He has also been charged with possession of an illegal firearm, a sawed-off shotgun.

Manes' attorney, Bob Ransome, has said Manes knew nothing of what the pair planned to do with the weapon.

Prosecutors say Philip Duran, a friend of Harris and Klebold, was the intermediary who arranged the sale of the pistol used in the killings. He has also been charged with the same offenses as Manes.

Both Duran and Manes appear in a videotape made by Harris and Klebold that showed all four firing weapons later used in the killings at a shooting range in Douglas County. In addition to the TEC-DC9, they were filmed firing two sawed-off shotguns and a High Point 9 mm carbine.