Columbine Probe Kept Under Wraps

Officials have turned down a request by two families to release materials from the Columbine High School shootings last year, prompting a lawsuit seeking the information.

The families of slain students Kelly Fleming and Daniel Rohrbough are expected to file suit calling on authorities to give them a final report and other materials relating to the tragedy.

A three-page letter from the Jefferson County attorney's office said most of the items sought in the families' public-records request would not be provided, except for part of a 911 tape released last year.

"We are disappointed but not surprised," said James Rouse, the attorney for the Kelly Fleming and Daniel Rohrbough families. "It is just additional stonewalling by the sheriff. We are proceeding with plans to force the release of the materials we requested."

Assistant County Attorney Lily Oeffler said release of some of the items could hurt ongoing or future prosecutions, break state privacy laws or cause public harm.

For instance, she said a long-delayed report on the shootings was still being reviewed for accuracy and would not be released until at least next month.

The report is expected to give a detailed account of what happened last April 20, when gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attacked their school, fatally shooting 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.

Sheriff's officials had originally expected the report in November.

Several victims' families say they need to review the report before deciding whether to file separate wrongful-death or negligence suits against the sheriff's department.

The deadline to file is Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the shootings. About 20 families are considering lawsuits.

In addition to the unedited investigative report on the Columbine shooting, whether in draft or final form, Rouse also requested a training video made by the Littleton Fire Department, all unedited 911 tapes, ballistics reports, and copies of all radio transmissions and car-to-car communications.

Oeffler said the release of unedited 911 tapes, which contain voices of some trapped students, may violate state laws governing the privacy of children.

The release of radio transmissions posed a similar problem, she said.

Meanwhile the release of ballistics reports could hamper the ongoing prosecution of Philip Duran, who is accused of helping Harris and Klebold obtain one of their four guns, Oeffler said.

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