columbine - tragedy and recovery

Killer on psychiatric medicine

By Mark Obmascik, Peter G. Chronis and Marilyn Robinson

Denver Post Staff Writers

April 28 - Five days before the Columbine High School massacre, the U.S. Marine Corps rejected killer Eric Harris' bid to enlist because of medical reasons, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The son of a retired Air Force pilot, Harris had cleared two preliminary screenings with a Marine recruiter this month. But after meeting with Harris and his parents April 15, the Marines disqualified the teen from military service.

"It was a follow-up meeting at Eric Harris' parents' home, with his parents present in the evening time," Marine 1st Lt. Jeff Sammons, a spokesman in Quantico, Va., told The Denver Post. "It was disclosed at that time that he had a medical disqualification ..., and (we) informed Eric he was not eligible for enlistment in the Marines.

The Marines refused to disclose the reason for Harris' medical disqualification.

But The New York Times quoted a family friend as saying the teen was being treated with psychiatric medicine.

The Jefferson County coroner's office said no drugs or alcohol were found in Harris' blood.

On April 20, Harris, 18 and his best friend, Dylan Klebold, 17, stormed into Columbine High School with an arsenal of four guns and dozens of bombs, killing 13, wounding 23 others and then killing themselves.

The Marines, who first contacted Harris in a routine recruiting call April 2, said they explained to the youth that disqualifications are fairly common.

Police say Harris and Klebold's plot to destroy the school began long before his military application was rejected.

A journal discovered in Harris' bedroom details a year-long scheme to kill 500 classmates and teachers before hijacking a plane and crashing it into New York City. The plot fell short when the teens, surrounded by authorities in the school library, shot themselves in the head.

Meanwhile, officials confirmed Tuesday that the search for new suspects is focusing on how the teenage killers amassed their arsenal of guns.

"We do have some leads on some of the gun-transfer stuff that may lead to some arrests," said Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone. "I told (lead investigator Lt. John Kiekbusch) I'd like an arrest by Friday. He said, 'I'll see what I can do for you.' But it's kind of putting the pressure on him."

The sheriff declined to name a suspect but noted that investigators now believe they know who sold a handgun used by the two killers. State law prohibits the sale of a handgun to anyone younger than 18. In their April 20 rampage, Harris and Klebold packed a modified version of the banned Intertec TEC-9 semiautomatic handgun. Investigators have refused to say who supplied the handgun to the teen killers.

"There is a trace. We're not talking about that," Stone said. "We did have a call from an attorney earlier today regarding someone in the weapons chain who wanted to sit down with our investigators to discuss the case."

After interviewing Klebold's 18-year-old girlfriend Monday, the Jefferson County district attorney's office said the woman bought three of the four guns used in the attack but apparently not the handgun. Police said Tuesday that the woman is a witness but not a suspect.

One week after the killings, TV and radio stations across Denver fell silent for 30 seconds Tuesday at 11:21 a.m. Bells tolled at dozens of churches.

Investigators also paused to commemorate the tragedy but quickly returned to work. More than 150 detective and officers now are working on the case, which figured prominently in an anti-crime package proposed Tuesday by President Clinton.

At the beginning of the day, police reported receiving 377 "good leads" on the case. By late afternoon, 260 had been assigned to investigators.

At the Hugh M. Woods hardware store at 4950 S. Kipling St., a customer-service worker told police he repeatedly sold propane tanks, wire, screws, nails and duct tape to two boys he identified as Harris and Klebold. Police said those types of materials were used in the 67 bombs found unexploded at the high school, in Klebold's car and in Harris' home.

The employee said he also copied keys - marked "Do Not Duplicate" - for the two teens. Police earlier confirmed they've been searching for a missing set of keys to the school, which authorities speculate may have allowed the killers to carry so many bombs into the school before the attack.

"For the last three months, I bet they came in more than a dozen times," said Gary Sowell, 50, the hardware worker. "They were buying the same things, pretty much the same things. That's what got my attention.

"Believe it or not, they said they were for school. I didn't pursue it any more than that.

"I duplicated some keys for them, two sets of keys. On the keys it said, "Do Not Duplicate.' I knew they were security keys, but I didn't question them. They brought in a set of five keys."

The hardware worker said he copied the keys because "after a while, you get to know the schools, and you know it's common for teachers to do that, so you don't check on them." Jefferson County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Parr said, "That's one of the leads we're definitely looking into. That will be thoroughly researched."

Another alleged sighting of Harris was reported by a Colorado Springs gun-shop owner, who said the teen and some friends tried to buy a machine gun from him. But police said a video security camera in the gun shop had taped no pictures of Harris.

"There's no indication that they are our suspects at all," said Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis.

Denver Post staff writer Kieran Nicholson contributed to this report.