NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT NEWS

From the ERRI Watch Center

CHICAGO, IL (EmergencyNet News) - The number of threats and gun and bomb incidents in schools across the United States continued unabated in the latter part of the week. In California, A 13-year-old boy with a loaded handgun and a hit list of 30 names was arrested at school on Thursday. Authorities pulled the boy out of class at Sierra Middle School in Bakersfield after classmates said they saw a gun under his shirt and saw him loading it outside. A .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and 13 rounds of ammunition were found on the boy.

A Kern County sheriff's commander said: "We certainly have a clear picture of what was in his mind and there was no denial" of his intentions. In the boy's backpack were 30 pieces of paper, each one with the name of a classmate or teacher, a drawing and the words "because they deserved to die" scrawled at the bottom. The boy's father was arrested for leaving the weapon on the floor of his closet where the boy had access to it.

For the past ten days since the Columbine High School attack, threats and hoaxes to school officials across the country have resulted in scores of calls to police and bomb squads. Thousands of students from New York to California have been affected; many have stayed away from school.

Here are some other incidents reported to the ERRI Watch Center:

From the ERRI Watch Center

CHICAGO, IL (EmergencyNet News) - This entire week, the ERRI Watch Center has been inundated with reports of threats of bomb and gun violence in schools across the United States. It appears that in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, school officials are cracking down on what once might have passed as youthful pranks or smart-aleck remarks.

In Chicago, school officials have told students they will treat any threatening comment the same way that mention of a bomb is handled in or around a commercial airline flight -- joke or no joke, you will be reported to the authorities. Some incidents have gone beyond jokes. Officials at one high school in Chicago who had delayed the installation of metal detectors changed their mind after a 15-year-old boy was caught with a .22-caliber gun taped to his ankle. The incident prompted the city's school chief to pressure the institution to act immediately.

The zero-tolerance attitude sweeping the nation even got five fifth-grade students at the Indiana School for the Deaf suspended for five days earlier this week. The Indianapolis Star-News reported on Wednesday that the students stood up in a cafeteria, pointing fingers like guns and pretending to reload. One was reported to have said in sign language: "I'm going to kill you."

It now appears that the U.S. school violence is now sparking copy-cat crimes in other countries. In Taber, Alberta, a teenage gunman reportedly carrying a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle opened fire at a high school in the small farming community in western Canada on Wednesday, killing one youth and seriously wounding another. The attack occurred around lunchtime at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, a farming community of 7,200 people, located about 110 miles southeast of Calgary, Alberta.

One ninth grade student student described the shooter as being unpopular and a frequent target of ridicule from other students. Police placed one person, described as a 14-year-old boy and former student, in custody after a local law enforcement officer apprehended him during a routine visit to the school. Police would not provide further details about the shooting or the gunman, but Canadian media reported that he walked into the school and threatened a teacher with a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle. The boy then reportedly ran back into a hallway and shot his two victims as they were walking into the school. A witness said that three people were targeted by the shooter but only two were hit. There were unconfirmed reports said the gunman in Taber may have been wearing a dark trench-coat similar to those worn by the two killers at Columbine.

In Gloucester, England, a teenage gunman fired three shots into a college classroom filled with students before running away. No one was injured. The shots were fired at 18 female students at the Gloucestershire College of Art and Technology in southwest England. Police said the youth fired through an open window and put the weapon, believed to be a handgun, back inside his  coat before fleeing. The youth was described as being about 17-years-old.

Here a just a small sample of numerous reported incidents that have come across the wires to the ERRI Watch Center:

NEWS IN BRIEF

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Police on Tuesday were investigating hundreds of leads to determine if the two Colorado teens who gunned down their classmates last week had any accomplices. But police said they were no closer to making an arrest or naming a suspect, even after questioning a number of witnesses including an 18-year-old girlfriend of one of the gunmen who, may have supplied them with guns.

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From the ERRI Watch Center

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Hundreds of leads are being investigated in the Columbine High School massacre case in hopes of determining if the two teens who gunned down their classmates last week had accomplices. But police said they were no closer to making an arrest or naming a suspect even after questioning a number of witnesses including an 18-year-old girlfriend of one of the gunmen who may have supplied them with guns.

Police have refused to publicly identify the 18-year-old woman who published reports said bought the semi-automatic weapons at a local gun show, where private dealers exhibit and sell a wide range of firearms. Police have not called the woman a suspect in the case and released her after questioning Monday. In fact, police said they are not monitoring her whereabouts nor those of any of the other people they have closely questioned over the past week.

A Denver area gun store owner told a local television station late Monday that five teenagers, including Harris and the 18-year-old woman, had tried to buy semiautomatic weapons from him weeks before the shooting. He said he recognized Harris after the shooting and a surveillance camera in the store recorded the encounter.

Several people interviewed by police, as well as the parents of the gunmen -- who killed themselves -- have hired attorneys. Police have cautioned that retaining a lawyer is not evidence of guilt. They also have declined to disclose if any of the people questioned had invoked their right under the constitution not to incriminate themselves.

Investigators also said on Monday that Harris and Klebold had planned to kill 500 students, destroy the school and commandeer a plane to crash it into New York City. A diary found at the house of one of the two young killers has given police a graphic and chilling account of what Harris and Klebold wanted to do.

NEWS IN BRIEF

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - The physician who pronounced them dead said on Sunday that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold died with their bombs and guns, near the bodies of 10 of their 13 Columbine High School victims. The two teenage killers died in the school library, each from a single gunshot wound, one through the mouth into the brain and the other to the side of the head.

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By Amy Grant, ERRI Medical Analyst

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - The massacre at Columbine High School is already taking its toll on the emergency workers who faced their own kind of trauma while trying to help the young victims that needed their help. One paramedic is reported to had been so traumatized that he was in a daze for two days and could not sleep for more than two hours in a stretch. He reportedly has already decided to make a career change.

As can be expected, death comes with the job, but the police, surgeons and other emergency workers who tended the dead and wounded are enduring trauma unlike anything they've ever experienced. For many, it was the sheer numbers -- 15 dead, 23 wounded -- and the tender ages of the victims.

Clark Staten, ERRI Sr. analyst and a retired Asst. Chief Paramedic, said that it is not unusual for incidents like Littleton to invoke psychological problems among rescuers. Staten, who has managed or participated in literally hundreds of shootings, hostage incidents, and other kinds of major disasters, said that it is essential that fire, police, and EMS personnel attend "critical incident stress debriefing" sessions within seventy-two (72) hours of the incident. Staten also said that another period of emotional problems for emergency responders can be expected to occur in weeks or months after the incident. The secondary problems can be alikened to "post traumatic stress" encountered by soldiers who have been exposed to extensive combat. "Historically, we have seen this problem manifesting itself more in younger or less experienced rescuers, who's coping mechanisms aren't as well developed...but, its effects can strike veteran responders as well," Staten added.  

Cheryl English, a charge nurse at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center who has tended hundreds of patients disfigured by burns and gunfights over seven years, said: "This is the hardest thing that I've had to deal with since being a nurse. These kids were helpless. They were innocent. They were not involved in any gang. They weren't in a shootout. They were in a library."

NEWS IN BRIEF

From the ERRI Watch Center

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Investigators say that a diary recovered from the home of one of two teens responsible for the Columbine High School massacre showed they planned the rampage for a year and that the attack was timed to coincide with the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone said: "They were going for a big kill...They also talked about how they wanted to burn the school down."

Stone said the diary contained detailed plans. It also showed that they had been stockpiling bombs for a considerable period of time. He said, "The diary goes back one year. The timeline stretches to the day this all happened." The sheriff added that the handwritten diary contained detailed notes and plans, and described the intent to carry out the deadly attack on April 20, the 110th anniversary of Hitler's birth.

Sheriff Stone said: "It was very intentional, the timing of this thing. They've been building bombs for a considerable period of time." Stone described that weapon parts, and other materials were clearly visible in one of the suspect's bedrooms. About 150 investigators are examining about 2,000 pieces of evidence pointing to wider involvement in the attack. Police are pressing with their questioning in the case. It was reported that the parents of the suspects had hired lawyers.

Sheriff John Stone said he firmly believed "there are other people involved in this. I have been concerned all along there was too much weaponry, too many bombs, placed in there for it being physically possible for two people to carry in that morning. And the fact that they came out with guns blazing. You can't come out with guns blazing when you've got more guns than you can carry."

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From the ERRI Watch Center

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Police appeared no closer to naming a third suspect who may have helped students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, plant bombs or plan their assault on Columbine High School this week. Colorado's Rocky Mountain News reported Friday that investigators were seeking a teen-ager suspected of lugging duffel bags into the school and fleeing before Harris and Klebold opened fire.

But faced with repeated questions from reporters about a third suspect, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has said no such accomplice had yet been identified. A spokesman also could not confirm reports that keys to the school had been found on Klebold, or that a custodian caught the two teens in the school cafeteria the night before the attack.

While investigators intensified the hunt for possible accomplices in the massacre, officials released the dramatic 911 emergency tapes from the day of the shootings. On one tape, a teacher is heard screaming: "Kids, under the table. Kids, stay on the floor," as the sound of gunfire echoed in the hallway outside the library.

She said as she told the 911 operator that a gunman's bullet had hit a student standing near her: "Oh God, oh God, kids, just stay down." He turned the gun straight at us and shot ... and the kid standing there was hit ... we need police here. He's (the gunman) right outside here. He's outside in the hall."

She said she was lying on the floor and the dispatcher asked if she could lock the doors when suddenly there were seven shots. She said: "I don't think I'm going to go out there, OK. I've got kids on the floor, OK."

Fall-out from this week's Colorado high school rampage hit schools nationwide on Friday as nervous administrators and parents acted on a rash of threats of copycat violence. Schools reported bomb scares, threats of mass violence and students showing up in long black trench coats.

-- In Canada, a high school in the province of New Brunswick banned students from wearing black trench coats.

-- In New Jersey, school officials were on alert Friday in the small town of Spotswood after an 18-year-old threatened to blow up his high school on the same day as the Colorado school shooting. Police arrested the student on Tuesday after he told a teacher in a rage that he wanted to kill her and another teacher and blow up the school.

-- At a north Texas school for fifth and sixth graders, almost half the 660 pupils were kept home by their parents a day after police brought in a sniffer dog to check a bomb threat painted on a cafeteria wall. No bomb was found but police remained outside the Wylie Intermediate School on Friday in a show of force intended to reassure parents, who pulled out nearly all the children Thursday.

-- A 17-year-old boy was arrested in suburban Seattle after chopping off the head of a kitten in a rampage apparently triggered by television coverage of the Colorado school shootings. The boy reportedly laughed at the news coverage and told his mother: "When I get older some of my friends are going to do that." He then attacked the kitten with a hatchet and also damaged his mother's car.

-- In the Los Angeles suburb of Mission Hills, a 17-year-old boy was reported to have committed suicide and left a note referring to his sadness over the deaths of the 15 people in Littleton. The youth was said by family and friends to have been severely depressed and "a self-perceived outcast."

-- In Jacksonville, Florida, a 12-year-old girl was arrested after another student heard her talking about bringing a bomb and guns to school the next day to kill people during the lunch hour. No weapons were found.

-- In Florida, two Gainesville High School students were suspended for wearing black trench coats.

-- Two 15-year-old boys at a Texas high school were arrested and expelled for taking a loaded gun and a fake bomb to school Thursday. One boy waved a loaded gun in front of classmates when the teacher was absent, although he didn't threaten anyone directly. At the same school a fake bomb was found when a student's locker was searched after he was heard describing the recent Colorado school massacre as "cool."

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From the ERRI Watch Center

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Police are looking for clues Friday to point them toward an accomplice that may have helped two teenage youths in their shooting rampage at a suburban Denver high school. Authorities have found no physical evidence against anyone but gunmen Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, but say the elaborate nature of Tuesday's attack -- in which 15 people died, including the gunmen -- suggested the work of several people.

Police Thursday night evacuated a memorial service for family and friends of the victims at a local church after an unidentified man phoned in a bomb threat. About 300 people were escorted from Light of the World Catholic Church about one mile from Columbine High School as the service was ending, but Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies found no bombs.

A sheriff's department spokesman said local police agencies had received several bomb threats since the shooting rampage, but had treated most as pranks. The threat against Light of the World was the first that forced an evacuation.

The growing hunch by investigators that others might have helped Harris and Klebold in their attack was fueled in part by Thursday's discovery of a large and potentially devastating bomb in the high school cafeteria. A 20-pound device was found in a duffel bag in plain sight in the kitchen area. Investigators said they had no reports that Harris and Klebold had carried in such a large bag.

Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas added, "Nobody saw those two people carry such a device into the school. I don't know how it got there. We intend to fully explore ... how much planning was involved."

Police released a detailed list of the weapons that Harris and Klebold were believed to be armed with:

-- Two sawed-off shotguns

-- One 9 mm semi-automatic rifle

-- One semi-automatic handgun

-- More than 30 homemade explosives, including pipe bombs, crude hand grenades and a propane tank (similar to those used on gas barbecue grills) with explosives attached.

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Authorities said on Wednesday that the two teenage gunmen who killed 13 people in a shooting spree at their high school before killing themselves also planted 30 pipe bombs as part of a plan to maim and kill as many people as possible. While police said they believed that Eric Harris, who just turned 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, were alone when they walked into Columbine High School on Tuesday and shot at students and teachers, the elaborate nature of their plan prompted suspicion that others may have known about it.

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LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Local authorities said on Wednesday that the two teenage gunmen who killed 15 people in a shooting spree at their high school before killing themselves also planted 30 pipe bombs as part of a plan to maim and kill as many people as possible. While police said they believed that Eric Harris, who just turned 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, were alone when they walked into Columbine High School on Tuesday and shot at students and teachers, the elaborate nature of their plan prompted suspicion that others may have known about it.

Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone said: "There was a lot of planning put into this. It took a considerable amount of time to make it (the arsenal). I have concerns whether two people could carry all that stuff in there."

The arsenal discovered by police was daunting: one sawed-off shotgun, one nine millimeter semi-automatic rifle and a handgun in addition to 30 pipe bombs planted at the school, in two cars in the school parking lot and at the assailants' homes. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said there were several different types of pipe bombs, including some about 12 inches long, some 6 inches to 8 inches long, and a third type that had a timer tied to a propane gas cylinder.

Twelve students -- nine boys and three girls -- were killed in the school library, one adult male was fatally shot outside the library, and two or three students were killed outside the school. Some of the victims' bodies were found under desks and cubicles, indicating they may have been trying to hide or run for their lives. By Wednesday evening, officials had removed all 15 bodies from the school. The removal had been delayed because authorities feared there may be booby-trapped explosive devices still in the building.

Acquaintances of Harris and Klebold said the pair were members of an outcast group called the "Trench Coat Mafia," whose members paraded around the school dressed in long black coats. The acquaintances described them as "smart" youths who liked to talk about guns and violence and shared a hatred of athletes who made fun of them. Harris is said to had nearly a 4.0 grade average. The two gunmen -- both high school seniors -- did not leave a suicide note.

Police searched the two youths' homes and found bomb-making materials at one. Police were seen carrying out bags of computer equipment and books from Harris' home.

In the midst of the horrified reaction in the community, police also tried to deflect criticism that they were not on the spot soon enough, saying they answered the 911 call within three minutes. A Jefferson County deputy who was posted at the school shot at one of the gunmen. Two deputies who arrived at the scene also shot at the suspects. Police also said they had to act cautiously because they did not have all the facts.

Sgt. George Hinkle of the Lakewood, Colorado, SWAT team said: "We practiced for similar scenarios but for something on this scale, we had never anticipated something like this, no." Hinkle said that the scores of police officers sent to Columbine High School when the two students began their killing spree moved cautiously out of fear that the gunmen were dressed as police. Hinkle, who was among the first officers on the scene, said, "We thought we could have had a band of terrorists on our hands, and we had information that the student gunmen were dressed in a manner similar to police."

Hinkle described the high school as looking like a madhouse as police strike teams slowly walked through the halls. He said: "The hallways were filled with screaming kids and crying kids who were hiding underneath desks. The sprinklers were going off, and there was four inches of water in the halls. We did everything humanly possible to get people out, but it was the most traumatic scene I have ever seen in 27 years of police work."

NEWS IN BRIEF

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - According to the latest police figures released on Wednesday, a shooting rampage by two heavily armed teenagers at a Colorado high school left 15 or 16 people dead, including the gunmen. Previously at least 20 people and perhaps as many as 25 were believed killed in Tuesday's rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton.

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Police are finding bombs and booby traps left behind by the two students who apparently killed several people, including themselves, Tuesday at a Colorado high school. Several students said the killers were gunning for minorities and athletes. Officers did not plan to remove the bodies -- which were throughout the school -- until later today because of the danger of explosives and the need to preserve evidence. FBI agents and police SWAT teams slowly made their way through the building, and a bomb set on a timer exploded just before 2300 MDT. No one was hurt. At least 30 other bombs were found, some set up as booby traps, in the school and outside the building in knapsacks.

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Witnesses said that the young gunmen moved calmly through the school library, giggling  as they shot point blank at students cowering under their desks. Stunned teenagers at Littleton's Columbine High School described Tuesday's attack as a horror movie come to life, fingering a group of school outcasts known as "the Trenchcoat Mafia" as being likely suspects in the rampage.

*****

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From the ERRI Watch Center

LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Police bomb squads continue to thoroughly search a Colorado high school early on Wednesday for booby-trap explosives left by two heavily armed teenagers who killed 15-16 people, including themselves, in one of the worst shooting rampages in recent memory. Police said the youths left more than a dozen homemade bombs with timers in and around at Columbine High School during their "suicide mission" on Tuesday, in which at least 23 other people were wounded.

Tuesday's attack was by far the worst case of school shootings that have shocked Americans over the past 18 months and was one of the bloodiest mass shootings of any kind in the country. The booby traps made the school in the Denver suburb of Littleton hazardous for investigators hoping to examine the scene in detail and make a final body count.

One previously undiscovered device exploded late on Tuesday -- several hours after the slayings.The homemade devices included highly lethal pipe bombs, propane-fuelled shrapnel explosives and plastic containers filled with gasoline and soap. Some were found near the bodies of the two suspects and others elsewhere in the school and in its parking lot.

Authorities were unable to give a firm death toll in the carnage. Police have not determined a motive for the attack but had heard speculation it might be connected to Adolf Hitler's birthday. The two gunmen were identified as members of an outcast group at the school called the "Trench Coat Mafia" that The Denver Post, in a story on its Web site, said consisted of about a dozen juniors and seniors who wore swastikas on their clothes and liked to discuss Hitler -- whose birthday was 20 April. Witnesses said the gunmen, dressed in black trench coats and ski masks, reportedly giggled as they sprayed gunfire at students around lunchtime on Tuesday.

Students identified the dead suspects as seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, both 18. Acquaintances said the two were unpopular and talked a lot about guns and violence. According to one student, Harris had "changed recently" and "gotten mean." She also said that Klebold was "different." "He just likes the clothes. I don't think he is a mean or evil guy," she said. Adams added that Klebold was at a high school prom on Saturday night. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said school authorities had not reported any serious problems with the two youths.

Many witnesses said the gunmen appeared to have two particular targets: minority students and popular athletes. A sophomore named Joshua Lapp said he was in the school library when the gunmen approached. He ducked beneath his desk along with others in the room when the shooters entered. He described: "They came in started shooting people underneath the desk. About half an hour shooting, they decided to walk out. They were going around, they were laughing about it. They'd shoot somebody, they'd laugh, they'd giggle ... you'd hear a shot go off, you'd hear somebody yell and scream, another shot go off and they'd yell and scream, another shot and there would be silence..."

Lapp was one of a number of students who said the gunmen's all-black outfits resembled the black trenchcoats sported by the "Trenchcoat Mafia", a group of teen-agers who favored dark clothing and "gothic"-style rock music.  Lapp said, "They were known as the Trenchcoat Mafia at our school and they got ridiculed a little bit. We called them the Trench coat Mafia because they wore black trenchhcoats every day to school. Everywhere, anywhere, any day, no matter how hot it was they wore a black trench coat." He added that the social tensions between the school athletes, or "jocks", and the "Trench coat Mafia" may have been one factor behind the attack.

Police said eight to ten members of the "Trench coat Mafia" would turn up to school wearing black trench coats and sunglasses every day and fellow students described them as misfits. The gang's anti-social attitude was summed up in an entry in the high school yearbook which read: "Who says insanity is crazy? Insanity is healthy."

They appeared to be a textbook example of anti-social misfits bearing a grudge. Dave Hnida, school team doctor at Columbine, knew of the gang. He said members would dress in black, wore sunglasses at all times and were fans of the rock star Marilyn Manson - a cult heavy metal star popular with rebellious American teenagers.

Hnida said: "They didn't really associate with anybody else at the school. To give you an idea of their philosophy, a group of them put an entry in the Columbine High School yearbook, saying 'Who says insanity is crazy? Insanity is healthy'."

Hnida said the gang may also have been behind the daubing of swastikas at the school. He said: "There had been an incident where some swastikas were painted on lockers at the school but it's much too early to say whether that's connected with this incident."

A student, identified as Aaron Cohn said that the two gunmen marched into the library of Columbine High School with guns and pipe bombs, demanding that "all jocks stand up. We're going to kill every one of you." Cohn said that one gunman looked under a desk in the library and said "Peek-a-boo," then fired. Anyone who cried or moaned was shot again. One girl begged for her life, but a gunshot ended her cries. Cohn said one killer put a pistol to his head but did not shoot him.  Instead, he said, the shooter turned his attention to a black student, saying, "I hate niggers." Cohn heard three shots but couldn't see what happened.

Police said the attackers carried handguns, possibly semi-automatic weapons and some incendiary devices. The two died of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Other students said that members of the "Trench coat Mafia" played World War II games, bragged about their guns, and razzed fellow students about kowtowing to the elite students at Columbine High School. But few students took them seriously until Tuesday.

Sean Kelly, a 16-year-old junior, shared a computer lab with Harris. Kelly said: "They just didn't seem to be all there. They liked things like Soldier of Fortune magazine." One of the dead suspects, Harris, reportedly made his own video production at school in which he bragged about some of his new guns.

Kelly said members of the group made a number of "generally derogatory remarks" about Hispanics and blacks, and were considered outcasts by other students at the school.  Student Andrew Beard said members of the group often came to school in steel-toed combat boots, some of them wearing Nazi crosses. Beard said a dozen students joined the group last year, adopting the trademark dusters and sometimes wearing red or green berets, but the numbers dwindled to a half-dozen this year as the novelty wore off. He said he knew of no special significance for the dusters.

TIMETABLE OF A MASSACRE

Here is a timetable of how the horrific events began to unfold and escalated into a terrifying five-hour ordeal at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado:

-- The shooting began at 11.15am local time when reports of two or three masked gunmen walked into the school.

-- Some witnesses said there were two gunmen and the shootings took place in several places in the school, including the cafeteria and library.

-- Around an hour after shooting began, television images, broadcast nationwide, showed police cars and ambulances at a staging area near the school, and officers in camouflage gear. At least one person was seen being carried to an ambulance.

-- A spokeswoman at two local hospitals confirmed that five people were being treated for injuries including gunshot wounds. Their conditions were not known.

-- At the adjacent Clement Park, students were shaking and crying as parents wandered about, looking for their children. Police helicopters whirled overhead and hundreds of police officers patrolled in the area of the school and park.

-- Nearly two hours after the shooting, police SWAT team members entered the building and 15 to 20 students fled.

-- The frightened students ran out with their hands in the air and were frisked by police.

-- Several other groups of youths ran from the school in the following hours after an armored car was brought to an entrance for cover.

-- Police inside the building were able to see some wounded students but could not reach them because the area was not secure.

-- At one point, a bloodied young man dangled from a second-floor window, his right arm limp, and was helped down by two SWAT team members. His condition was not immediately known.

-- Shortly after the school was stormed, three youths wearing black - but not trench coats - were stopped by police in a field near the school. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said the three were friends of the gunmen who were being taken in for questioning.

-- The arrests were caught on camera by the crew of a TV news helicopter. The footage showed two men lying face down on the ground.

-- Police said later that at least 11 people were taken to hospitals, including a girl who suffered nine wounds to the chest.

-- A second girl had a wound to the chest, a boy had a wound in the back, and another youth had three gunshot wounds in the chest and arms.

-- Towards the end of the five-hour siege, police said two suspects were found dead in the library and that up to 25 deaths had been reported.

-- Sheriff John Stone speaking at the scene said: "It appears to be a suicide mission."

**FLASH** REPORT

EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Tuesday, April 20, 1999-18:17CDT

UPDATE: LITTLETON, COLORADO, SHOOTING

From the ERRI Watch Center

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LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department says as many as 25 people may have been found DEAD in the high school, including two suspects. Several bombs and explosive devices were found in the building. The spokesman described the scene in the school's library as "gruesome."

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LITTLETON, COLORADO (EmergencyNet News) - Shots rang out and explosions rocked a high school in suburban Denver on Tuesday afternoon. Witnesses say two young men wearing black masks and dressed in long, black trench coats opened fire at around 1130 MDT. Students were sent scattering as gunshots ricocheted off lockers. At least 20 people have been reported wounded, including one girl who sustained nine gunshot wounds to the chest. There have been rumors of fatalities inside the building. There have been reports that one student was seen being taken away in handcuffs by police from the high school. This subject may had been a gunman or may have been a friend of the two suspects.

Students currently being taken out of the building report seeing at least three dead students in the school. There may be more. There were reports of explosions in Columbine High School, which continues to be ringed by ambulances and more than 100 police   officers. It took a police SWAT team about two hours to enter the building to search for the gunmen and rescue up to 150 students who hid in the very large high school building.

Jefferson County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Davis said, "When our deputies arrived they were met with some gunfire. The deputies returned fire." The situation still remains fluid and much is still not known, including confirmation of whether the gunmen are still in the school or if they are holding hostages.

A large number of witnesses gave their accounts of what happened to the local media in Denver. Most said there were two gunmen and the shootings took place around the school, including the cafeteria and library.

Some of the related accounts were dramatic because the witnesses still carried fear in their voices. One girl said: "They walked down the stairs and they started shooting people." She said it was two young men, wearing black trench coats. She added, "They were shooting people and throwing grenades and stuff. ... Me and my friends got to my car and drove off. ... We saw three people get shot. They were just shooting. Then something blew up."

Students said that eight to ten students in the school wear black trench coats every day and are known as the "Trench Coat Mafia." One student described them as: "They are jerks. They are really strange, but I've never seen them do anything violent."

Swedish Hospital officials said four students were taken there, all in serious condition. One girl had nine gunshot wounds to the chest, a second girl had one gunshot wound to the chest, one boy had one gunshot wound in the back, and another youth had three gunshot wounds in the chest and arms. All were conscious when they arrived at the hospital.

Witnesses said that it appeared that the gunmen were targeting minority students and students who are known as "jocks." There were also reports that students wearing white caps may had been targeted. It was not known what the white caps represent.

At Denver Health Medical Center, a boy and a girl were being treated for gunshot wounds. The conditions of the injured were not known.

Denver and Littleton police, and Jefferson County and Arapahoe sheriff's deputies were helping on the scene. Several Denver area SWAT teams have been seen arriving at the High school.

A number of rescues of wounded and unharmed students have been seen on television. There was a rumor that the gunmen may have changed their clothes and exited the building pretending to be frightened students escaping the building. Within the past hour, it appears that three friends of the suspects inside the school came to the scene and may had attempted to gain entry before they were stopped by police officers who held them at gunpoint.

The three youths outside of the school were dressed in black "sports-type" jackets. Television video shot from a helicopter showed a police officer appearing to be unloading at least one weapon.

It is uncertain what type of weapons the gunmen inside the building are using. There have been reports of shotguns, assault rifles and even an Uzi submachine gun.  There are several rumors swirling right now. Some say that there are large number of fatalities in the building. Others say that at  least one of the gunmen or both may had committed suicide.

Shots were reported fired about two hours after police arrived on the scene.

The ERRI Watch Center is closely monitoring the situation which remains highly fluid. Columbine High is in the middle-class suburb of Littleton, population  35,000, southwest of Denver. It opened in 1973 and has an enrollment of about 1,800.

EmergencyNet News "Instant Update"

04/20/99 - 16:30CDT

04/20/99 - 14:15CDT

By C. L. Staten

Littleton, CO (EmergencyNet News) -- An incident that began two hours ago in a Littleton high school has not been resolved at this hour. According to sources on the scene, several students are believed to be still in the school and being held hostage by at least two gunmen dressed in black coats. An unconfirmed number of students have been wounded by gunshots and it is believed that at least one explosion of an "improvised device" has taken place. A staging area for emergency service agencies has been established near the school, which is located at 6201 S. Pierce in the Denver suburb of Littleton.

A number of shots have been heard, coming from inside the school, and it is believed that the gunmen have several weapons...including an some sort of automatic or semi-automatic rifle. Another suspect was described by an student eyewitness as having a semi-automatic handgun. Other students reported that the assailants had "pipe-bombs" or other improvised explosive devices. As expected by security concerns, authorities have released few details about the weapons being used by the perpetrators.

According to a correspondent on the scene, police SWAT team members have made entry into the westside of the school within the past five minutes and rescued several students who were trapped inside. Live television reports indicate that as many as twenty (20) additional students have been rescued in this latest entry.

Police officers and special teams from Denver, Littleton, Jefferson County and Arapahoe County, the Colorado State Police, and the FBI have all responded to the scene and are engaged in rescue and hostage resolution activities at the time of this report. Ambulances from American Medical Response and several life-flight helicopters are also present. Fire department personnel from Littleton and several other nearby jurisdictions are also said to be working at the incident.

Although unconfirmed by EMS sources, the Cable News Network (CNN) is reporting that a total of fourteen (14) people have been injured so far in the incident. Victims have reportedly been taken to St. Anthony, Swedish, and other Denver area hospitals. Several of the students are described as being in critical condition.

04/20/99 - 13:20CDT

Littleton, Colorado (EmergencyNet News) -- Preliminary and so far officially unconfirmed reports are coming in of a shooting involving at least eight students at the Columbine High School in Littleton. Reportedly, young men dressed in "black coats" came into the school and started firing. Later, reports were received that at least one explosion occurred at the scene.

Sheriff's deputies, SWAT teams, Fire and EMS personnel from several jurisdictions have responded to the incident and the situation is described as "fluid and on-going," by authorities. Few other details were immediately available and EmergencyNet News continues to monitor events in Colorado. Additional updates will be provided as circumstances warrant.

(c) All materials copyrighted, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1999. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.