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Sunday April 25 3:08 PM ET Shooting Probe Turns To Parents' Role

Shooting Probe Turns To Parents' Role

Reuters Photo
Reuters Photo

By Dan Whitcomb

LITTLETON, Colo. (Reuters) - The parents of the two gunmen who killed 12 fellow students and a teacher at a high school could face prosecution, Colorado's governor said Sunday after investigators found clear evidence of the massacre's planning in the bedroom of one of the assailants.

``I think that perhaps charges will be filed and certainly should be filed'' against the parents if the evidence is confirmed, Republican Gov. Bill Owens said on Fox News Sunday.

Investigators ``found in one of the gunman's homes clear evidence out, sitting in the room, of what was about to happen,'' said Owens. He did not say specifically what the parents could be charged with.

Attorney General Janet Reno also said Sunday that investigators would probe who gave the two teen-aged gunmen their weapons and ``what the parents knew or should have known.''

Any adult could be charged as an accomplice if he or she gave weapons to the perpetrators, said Owens.

Since Tuesday's massacre at Columbine High School in this affluent suburb southwest of Denver, parents, teachers and people around the country have been asking how Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, could have amassed such a large arsenal of guns and bombs without their parents' knowledge.

The two gunmen took their own lives in the rampage.

Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone said Saturday that evidence of the arsenal was in plain view in the home of one of the two gunmen.

``A barrel that they cut off one of the sawed-off shotguns was clearly visible laying on the dresser in one of the rooms. A lot of this was clearly visible. The parents should have been aware of it,'' Stone said. He did not say which of the two suspects he was referring to.

Reno said the authorities would try to establish what the parents of the two youthful perpetrators knew of their sons' intentions.

``It is important that we identify who is responsible for them having guns, what the parents knew or should have known, and take appropriate steps,'' Reno said Sunday on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''

Vice President Al Gore and the governor were due Sunday to lead thousands of mourners at a service for the victims of the bloody rampage that had been meticulously planned for a year.

Investigators Saturday said they recovered a diary written by one of the gunmen that contained chilling references to Nazi Germany. The attack was launched on the 110th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birthday.

``They wanted to do as much damage as they could possibly do and destroy the school and destroy as many children as they could, to go out in flames. They expected to die,'' the sheriff said.

Police said the diary, phone records and Internet mail all provided new leads into possible co-conspirators. None has been identified yet, although investigators say they suspect the two youths could not have acted alone.

Police have spoken to a number of people, some of whom have hired lawyers, in addition to the parents of the two gunmen. But an official at the Jefferson County Sheriff's office said no arrests were imminent.

Klebold was buried Saturday in a private service that was disclosed by his family afterward. The Klebold family said in a statement their ``sadness and grief over (Dylan's) death and this tragedy is indescribable'' and apologized to the families who lost loved ones in the attack by their son and Harris.

Police have not disclosed in which gunman's home they found the hand-written diary that laid out the massacre plan, detailing every aspect from when the most students would be in the cafeteria to the best places to hide in the school.

Police announced the discovery of the journal as family and friends of 17-year-old Rachel Scott began to arrive for her funeral.

Scott's service, attended by hundreds of weeping Columbine High School students, was the first in a painful week of memorials scheduled.

Services for teacher and coach Dave Sanders, who was rushing students to safety when the killers opened fire on him, were planned for Monday.

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