Family: Columbine Victim Shot By Police

Father Of Victim Says Officials Lied About Ballistics Reports

The father of a youth killed in the Columbine shootings claimed Thursday that Jefferson County sheriff's officials withheld reports that showed evidence was inconclusive about who fired the fatal shots.

Daniel Rohrbough

Brian Rohrbough said that documents he recently received showed the bullet recovered from Daniel Rohrbough's (pictured, left) body could not be positively identified as being fired by either Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold.

Rohrbough has alleged in a lawsuit filed against Sheriff John P. Stone and his department that his son was killed by a deputy who exchanged fire with one of the gunmen.

During a news conference, Rohrbough said that investigators told him that they had proof that Klebold killed his son, not a sheriff's deputy.

Rohrbough also cited a July letter from the sheriff's office to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation warning forensics experts that a lawsuit had been filed against its department and that no outside tests would be done on Rohrbough's clothes other than the CBI tests.

"In what now appears to be an obvious attempt to cover up what really happened to Dan, the sheriff's department lied about having ballistics confirming a bullet being fired by Klebold," Rohrbough said.

"We are outraged to find that the sheriff's department would lie to us and the public about physical evidence."

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department responded to the allegations Thursday, saying that they didn't lie to the Rorhboughs, and that they dispute the family's interpretation of the newly released information.

Brian Rohrbough

Rohrbough (pictured, right) said that preliminary results of independent tests run on his son's clothing support lawsuits filed in federal court against the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office by himself and other Columbine families and survivors. The suits claim that the deaths at Columbine could have been prevented. Sheriff's officials have denied the allegations.

The tests were commissioned by Rohrbough and his son's mother, Sue Petrone.

"There's just too many questions. There's been too much misinformation, too many lies told," Rohrbough said.

The two gunmen stormed Columbine High School in suburban Littleton in April 1999, killing 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide.

Investigators said that Rohrbough's wounds were consistent with those caused by 9-mm ammunition. Klebold had a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun on the day of the attack. Harris had a 9-mm carbine rifle.

The family produced a CBI report Thursday that indicated a 9-mm bullet recovered from Rohrbough's body by the coroner was consistent with a weapon recovered by authorities from the shootings.

"However, due to a lack of significant individual characteristics, they could not be positively identified. It should be noted that these items were not consistent with any of the other firearms submitted in this case," the CBI report said.

The Rohrboughs said that this makes this pain of losing Daniel even worse.

"It makes it really difficult when the people who have the truth won't tell you, when it involves the death of your child," Petrone said.

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