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Columbine Parent Releases Ballistics Report

Rohrbough Meets With Arapahoe County Sheriff

POSTED: 8:43 am MST January 11, 2002
UPDATED: 7:40 pm MST January 11, 2002

After meeting with the Arapahoe County Sheriff on Friday, Brian Rohrbough said he was convinced more than ever that is was a law enforcement officer, and not Columbine gunmen, who killed his son Danny Rohrbough.

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In fact, he released a new ballistics report that he said proves his case.

According to the Rohrboughs, Danny Rohrbough's autopsy showed that he was killed by a bullet that was fired from the front in an upward trajectory, 7NEWS reported.

"What's in front of Danny Rohrbough? Law enforcment shell casings," Rohrbough's attorney Barry Arrington said.

The Rohrboughs said that the ballistics map showed that there were no shell casings from Harris or Klebold in the area where the shot was fired.

Columbine ballistics map -- shell casings

However, there were three 9 mm shell casings found near Danny's body that belonged to Denver SWAT officer Dan O'Shea, Rohrbough said. Rohrbough said that given that evidence, Harris and Klebold were not in a position to kill their son, but O'Shea was.

"If it was a mistake, tell us it was a mistake," Rohrbough said. "If we are mistaken, show us we are mistaken. But let's get to the bottom of what happened that day at Columbine."

But O'Shea said he did not shoot anyone at Columbine. He said Danny Rohrbough was already dead when he arrived at the school.

The shell casings the Rohrboughs are talking about came from shots O'Shea said he fired after he crept down the hill to provide cover for another officer checking Dan's body.

But Rohrboughs don't believe it. Rohrbough and several other Columbine families accuse law enforcement of lying about what really happened at Columbine High School during the April 1999 massacre.

The Rohrboughs said it took two years for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department to hand over the ballistics maps because they said authorities were trying to cover-up what they know.

The lastest controversy involved an Arapahoe County deputy sheriff who gave two conflicting accounts of what he saw that day.

During a taped conversation in March 2000, Deputy Jim Taylor told the Rohrbough family that he saw their son Danny get shot. The Rohrboughs claim that Taylor's statements prove that a Denver SWAT officer fired the fatal bullet that killed their son, and not Harris or Klebold.

The family met with Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan on Friday to discuss his decision to fire Taylor.

Rohrbough said Sullivan didn't even ask to hear a tape the family has of Taylor telling them he was standing next to a Denver policeman during the 1999 massacre at Columbine when he heard machine gun fire and saw a student fall. Taylor said he was later able to determine that the student was Daniel.

Sullivan has said radio logs and other evidence show Taylor wasn't even there at the time. Sullivan fired Taylor for giving conflicting reports to investigators and the Rohrbough family.

Columbine ballistics map - bullet trajectory

The Rohrboughs described the one-hour meeting as "standoffish" and said that they are more convinced than ever that law enforcement is trying to cover up, 7NEWS reporter Julie Hayden said.

Jefferson County sheriff's detectives maintain that the 15-year-old was killed by Klebold, who along with Harris, stormed Columbine High School.

The U.S. attorney is considering a federal grand jury to investigate what happened the day of the massacre, but said that it's unlikely because no federal laws were broken.

The County district attorney said a state grand jury is an option. So is a coroner's inquest.

A state lawmaker said Thursday that if the courts don't get involved. He will move to form a legislative committee with subpoena powers to get answers.

"Not necessarily to find wrongdoing not necessarily to find the witch, so to speak, but to clear the air … find out what the truth is," said Rep. Don Lee, a Littleton Republican.

Lee also said that if it does go to a legislative committee it would have to happen before the session ends in May.

Columbine Report Under Lock And Key

Meanwhile, school officials are trying to keep private a report on an internal investigation into the Columbine High School shootings.

Jefferson County school officials conducted the in-depth investigation as they prepared to defend themselves from families' lawsuits.

The lawsuits have been dismissed. But the report is locked away.

It is protected by state laws that keep most attorney-client communications confidential.

School district attorney Bill Kowalski said officials want to protect the rights of people named in the lawsuit.

The report includes school records and interviews with Columbine staff members who knew the student gunmen.


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