Quoted:
Then I assume you believe that there was no negligence here by the SWAT guy that shot the fleeing student?
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gib,
You don't know what you are talking about.
[url]http://insidedenver.com/drmn/columbine/article/0,1299,DRMN_106_929369,00.html[/url]
Students there when Rohrbough shot
Witness statements point to Klebold, Harris as killers
By Hector Gutierrez, News Staff Writer
Three Columbine students who gave original witness statements to authorities strongly indicate that it was killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who shot and killed Daniel Rohrbough.
The students, Sean Graves, Lance Kirklin and Mark William Opfer, told investigators several days after the April 20, 1999, massacre they were standing near Rohrbough, 15, when he was gunned down outside the school. Kirklin and Graves also were seriously wounded during the attack.
Although their accounts had minor discrepancies, the three students said it was Klebold and Harris, clad in black trench coats, who spotted them outside and then opened fire on them.
Brian Rohrbough, Daniel's father, has argued that the youngsters were undergoing a horrific trauma and that their recollection of events may not be reliable.
Opfer told the FBI he was walking next to Rohrbough and going to the library on the outside staircase, northwest of the cafeteria, when he saw two men at the top of the stairs wearing trench coats. He described one as standing about 6 feet, 4 inches, and the other about 5 feet, 8 inches.
Klebold was the taller of the two killers.
"The shorter person began firing the pistol down the stairs," documents quote Opfer as saying. Included in the narrative: "Opfer turned to speak to Rohrbough, who then looked at him strangely and fell down screaming. Opfer realized Rohrbough had been shot, so he ran down the stairs and into the southwest entrance to the cafeteria. . ."
Opfer escaped unharmed.
He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Kirklin and Graves told investigators they were with Rohrbough and other students in the cafeteria when the three decided to go outside and walk up the hill.
According to Graves, he told investigators he saw the killers standing "side by side at the top near the corner of the library."
"The short guy was on my right," Graves told investigators. "They pointed their guns at us. The tall one shot first, at Dan and he (Dan) yelled. Dan slipped and fell and I can not remember what happened to Dan after that. . ."
Mike Graves, Sean's father, said Thursday his son and family plan to cooperate fully with investigators from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, which is conducting an independent probe of whether Denver police Sgt. Daniel O'Shea killed Rohrbough.
However, Mike Graves said, "Sean's statements appear to indicate it was one of the (assailants who shot Rohrbough.)
An investigator's interview with Kirklin stated that "at the very top of the stairs he observed an individual in dark clothes, silhouetted by the daylight, at which time he observed the gunman turn and point the gun in their direction, at which time Rohrbough began to fall, at which time he (Kirklin) attempted to catch him and felt himself being shot."
Kirklin couldn't be reached Thursday for comment.
January 4, 2002