Klebold's talked freely; Harris' were described as uncooperative, even attempting to bar police

By Lynn Bartels and Peggy Lowe
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

The police who raced to the homes of the Columbine gunmen the day of the school massacre received very different reactions from the two sets of parents, according to reports released under court order Tuesday.

Tom and Sue Klebold talked freely to officers, describing their son Dylan as happy, and invited a search of their home because there was no way Dylan could ever "be involved in anything like this."

Wayne and Kathy Harris were described as uncooperative, at first barring officers from their home, one police agency reported.

"I don't want you going down there," Kathy Harris told officers headed for Eric's basement bedroom, but she relented and allowed the search to continue, according to documents contained in the 11,000-page release.

The officers found shotgun shells on Eric Harris' bed, a shotgun with a sling hanging on the side of a dresser table and a bomb lying nearby.

Kathy Harris' twin sister, Karen Shepard, talked to a Sheridan police officer.

"She said that herself, Mr. and Mrs. Harris were afraid of retaliation from the parents whom (sic) their children were killed at high school," the report says.

Wayne Harris later told another police officer that he had no reason to believe his son was involved, but offered to intervene at the school "if it were an ongoing situation."

The report released by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office contains an interview the Klebolds gave to police 10 days after the April 20, 1999 shootings.

"The Klebolds indicated that Dylan was gentle and was that way until the day he died," the report says.

But in the mountain of documents, there is no copy of the interview the Harrises gave investigators after months of negotiations. The sheriff's office referred questions about the omission to the district attorney, which said it was up to the sheriff's office to say why there was no record of the interview.

The report also contains interviews with the gunmen's teachers and friends and offers insights into the boys' sometimes rocky relationship with their parents.

The Klebolds were quick to defend their son, according to the report, once dismissing a violent essay he wrote and another time protesting his three-day suspension from Columbine.

The Harrises had confiscated a pipe bomb from their son. Eric told friends and co-workers that his father accused him of being on LSD, and that he was often grounded, but he didn't say why.

Kathy Harris told her hairdresser she felt sorry for Eric because he couldn't find a prom date.

"Sometimes being a teen-ager really sucks," Eric told his mom, according to the hairdresser.

At the Harris home, police found on the kitchen table a handwritten note outlining an "itinerary" of the April 20 assault and a microcassette player.

Labeled "Nixon," the tape carries the voice of Eric Harris, with him saying it was made nine hours before the attack.

"People will die because of me," he says on the tape. "It will be a day that will be remembered forever."

The report is the first glimpse into Wayne and Kathy Harris' initial response to the shootings. They, family members or friends have never publicly talked of the attack.

The Klebolds also have not spoken publicly, but their friends have openly defended them as good parents and offered more insight into their lives.

The Klebolds met with the police and district attorney on April 30, 1999, in their attorney's office.

"Mr. Klebold said that he and his wife were not absentee parents and that that they were always there for him," Jefferson County investigator Kate Battan wrote.

The Klebolds described their son as "extraordinarily shy."

Tom Klebold said he asked his son if people picked on him in high school and Dylan told him no, pointing out he was 6-foot-4 and so wasn't a target. But, Klebold said, Dylan told them that people picked on Harris.

The Klebolds did not have the impression that one boy was the "leader" over the other, but they said Harris would get mad at their son if Dylan "screwed up something."

The Klebolds said they had not seen Harris for about six months when he came over to spend the night with their son on April 16, the Friday before the Tuesday shootings.

It was about 10:30 p.m. and Harris was carrying a nylon duffle bag "stuffed with something."

"The Klebolds indicated that it was awkward for Eric to carry this and that he had to use both hands. Mr. Klebold said he assumed it was a computer in the bag," Battan said.

Harris was empty-handed when he left the next morning.

That night the high school seniors made a video of themselves in Klebold's bedroom, showing off their weaponry and boasting of their plans to attack the school.

Tom Klebold said he didn't go into his son's room often, though he had gone in two weeks prior to the shooting to turn off the computer.

Tom Klebold said he would like copies of anything that was on his son's computer or any diary that he might have left.

"The Klebolds indicated they would like to know about any writings by Dylan to help then understand what had happened on April 20th."

Also in the report, Peter Horvath, the dean of students, told investigators that one of the first punishments he handed out when he started working at Columbine in 1997 was to suspend Klebold, Harris and a third student for hacking into the school's computer system and stealing locker combinations.

Horvath said all three boys' parents protested the suspensions. He described Harris' parents as cooperative but critical of the punishment because of their son's "minor" involvement.

Horvath met with Tom Klebold, whom he described as very intelligent, "an Einstein." Tom Klebold disagreed with suspensions in general.

Eric Harris stayed out of trouble and Horvath's office, but Dylan Klebold returned in 1998 for trying to scratch something into a freshman's locker door. Horvath said Dylan Klebold became "very agitated" while they waited for Tom Klebold to arrive, leading him to believe the father and son had problems.

Contact Lynn Bartels at (303) 892-5405 or bartelsl@RockyMountainNews.com. Contact Peggy Lowe at (303) 892-5482 or lowep@RockyMountainNews.com.