By Heather Maher and Jonathan Dube

ABCNEWS.com

L I T T L E T O N, Colo., April 21  It is stunned grief that has settled over Littleton, Colo., one day after the worst school massacre in recent history.

ABCNEWS' Peter Jennings takes a look at how the community is coping.

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(download RealPlayer) At Columbine High School, 15 bodies were removed after two laughing gunmen raged through the school on Tuesday, shooting their classmates at point blank range and from far away, throwing pipe bombs as they went.

The death toll includes the two gunmen, identified by authorities early today as Columbine juniors Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. The two were found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the schools library, after one exchanged gunfire with a sheriffs deputy.

Not until this afternoon were the first bodies removed from the scene  those of two victims who died outside the school. By tonight, all of the bodies had been taken to the coroners office.

Investigators fanned out in the sprawling building today, on the heels of the explosives experts who had carefully picked their way through the high schools rooms last night, finding dozens of unexploded devices and booby trapped bombs.

Teams from several law enforcement branches, including the FBI and ATF, are photographing and gathering evidence from the grisly scene.

Its a scene that changed abruptly at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, from a normal surburban high school to a house of horrors, where students hid under desks and begged for their lives from two smiling classmates who taunted them with, Dont worry, youll be dead soon. Families Wait for Answer They Know

Ten of the 28 victims who were hospitalized after the bloody rampage are listed in serious or critical condition at area hospitals.

Because the dead have not been identified, their families have not been officially notified. But after hours of anxious waiting for sons and daughters who never emerged from the school in the Tuesday afternoons panic, the terrible reality has sunk in by now.

It appears that some of the bodies were underneath desks, or boxes or cubicles, said Steve Davis, of the Jefferson County Sheriffs Dept. today. Possibly, yes, they were trying to hide from the assault that was happening.

Late today, Jefferson County District Attorney predicted, This will be a long investigation, adding that his staff was already in the process of conducting interviews with students and faculty to gather information.

Rick Kauffman, from the Jefferson County Public School District, said all of the districts schools would re-open Thursday, after being closed today for safety considerations.

He said all the district schools were being swept for security reasons, and that safety measures had been increased at all the buildings. When the schools open their doors Thursday, he said, additional manpower would be in place at entrances and exits.

School district officials said there is a chance Columbine High School would not reopen before the school year ends.

Impromptu Shrine

But today, a steady stream of Columbine students did return, and brought with them to the roped-off scene flowers and hand-written notes for their fallen classmates.

Two trees at the edge of the school parking lot have become impromptu memorial sites, and bouquets of roses and daisies are piled at the base. Homemade signs that read, Our hearts are with you, sit alongside candles and teddy bears.

Students have come, too, from surrounding school districts, which closed their doors today in the aftermath of the tragedy.

At one tree, Melanie Brittsan, a 16-year-old junior from John F. Kennedy High School in Denver laid a bouquet of carnations and a note that read, Be strong.

Her classmate Megan Evans, a 17-year old senior, said, This is just scary. It could have just happened at any school. Who knows? It could have been us. 30 Explosive Devices Found

Sheriffs officials said the FBI and SWAT team experts who moved in after Tuesdays attack combed the area and found 30 explosive devices on the school grounds, in the two suspects cars, and in one of the suspects homes.

The devices ranged from crude to sophisticated, and were made with components that could have come from any hardware store, he said.

Some were set up as booby traps, both in the school and outside the building in knapsacks, Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone told ABCs Good Morning America. Some of these devices are on timing devices, some are incendiary devices and some are pipe bombs. Some are like hand grenades that have got shrapnel in them wrapped around butane containers.

The bodies of the dead were left in the school overnight so ballistics experts could carefully pick through the many rooms in the school where the victims fell. Sheriffs deputies said there were concerns that timed explosives had been set near the carnage.

Authorities identified two types of weapons the gunmen used in the attack  long guns and hand guns, along with several kinds of explosive devices. No further details on the types of firearms used have been released.

Davis said authorities have released the four students who were detained yesterday for questioning, who were believed to have been friends of the two gunmen. No arrests have been made, and none are planned at this time, he said.

Right now we have no reason to believe we have any other suspects besides the two that are dead, he said. Outcasts in Trench Coats

Several students who witnessed the shootings said Klebold and Harris were targeting minorities and athletes, but Davis said that investigators so far had not uncovered a motive for the attack, nor found written statements on the suspects bodies.

Its hard to say who was targeted, he said. There doesnt seem to be any one particular group that was targeted. As far as [people] being shot randomly, it appears so.

The two belonged to clique of outcasts called the Trenchcoat Mafia. Fellow students said they wore long black coats every day, no matter the weather, boasted of owning guns, and disliked blacks and Hispanics.

They were laughing after they shot,  said student Aaron Cohn, who said he saw one of the gunmen pull a sawed-off shotgun out from under his coat. It was like they were having the time of their life.

Cohn also said one of the two shooters looked under a desk in the library and said peek-a-boo and then fired. Anyone who cried was shot again, and one girl begged for her life, but a shot ended her pleas.

Student Crystal Woodman told ABCNEWS Good Morning America today, They thought it was funny. They were just like, Whos next? Whos ready to die? and every time theyd shoot someone, theyd holler, like it was, like, exciting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Clinton Cancels Texas Trip

Half a continent away from the tragic scene, President Clinton and his Cabinet today mobilized what help they could offer grieving Littleton, Colo.  and to hammer home to all the children of America that violence is wrong.

All of us are struggling to understand exactly what happened and why, the president said.

Clinton, who canceled a celebratory political trip to Texas today and moved up a Thursday meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, weighed traveling to suburban Denver to comfort victims of the massacre inside Columbine High School.

Spokesman Joe Lockhart said no decision has been made on travel. Theres obviously time on the schedule, he said.

Grief counselors, at Clintons command, stood ready to make the trip when called.

Perhaps the most important thing all of us can do right now is to reach out to each other and to families and their young children, Clinton said at the White House, addressing the tragedy for the second time.

Advisors suggest is nots likely the president will be able to visit Littleton before the upcoming NATO summit this weekend.



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