ey parts of a yet-to-be-released report on last year's shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado may dispel a number of early accounts and other claims. On Sunday, the Denver Post newspaper published findings from the sheriff's department probe which is based on interviews with more than 5,000 people and examination of over 10,000 evidentiary items.

   Already, word of the leak has sparked controversy. Relatives of victims from Columbine expressed outrage at not having seen the actual report, and several claimed that they had not been "treated with respect" by the Jefferson County sheriff's office. CBS news reports that a final draft of the investigation findings is not even complete, and that authorities are still debating on how it will be released to the public. At present, plans call for the document to be put on CD-ROM, which will include audio visual materials pertinent to the investigation.

   The controversy stems from an April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine where two gunmen, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, killed 12 fellow students and a teacher, and wounded 21 others. From the beginning of the story, there were claims that the pair were part of a larger group, and specifically targeted blacks, student athletes and Christians during their rampage.

   According to the Post, though, both claims are false.

   Reporter Peggy Lowe wrote that "No one group or individual was sought out." According to Kate Battan, Jefferson County's lead investigator in the case, "This was not about killing jocks or killing black people or killing Christians.... It was about killing everybody.." Remarks made about religion or God were reported uttered because the gunmen were "taunting their schoolmates, who were saying things like, 'Oh God.' The killers used religion, race or anything to belittle their victims."

   The Post story reveals that Harris and Klebold did intend to run up the number of victims in hopes of killing at least 450 people. They had placed two propane bombs in the cafeteria, and reportedly planned to gun down survivors fleeing the explosion. At least one bomb exploded late, killing two students. Other bombs failed to detonate.

   Another "Columbine myth" involves the so-called Trench Coat Mafia, a group which Klebold and Harris were reportedly associated with. When word of the "Mafia" was first reported within hours of the Columbine shootings, school districts across the country began a frenzied campaign of banning the long coats, and taking other dubious measures such as requiring students to use special transparent backpacks, or submit to metal detector searches. The Post story says that the Trench Coat Mafia at Columbine was "a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing ... not an organized group or clique." It had about a dozen students, "mostly social outcasts who hung out together. Their pictures appeared in the 1998 Columbine yearbook."

   Investigators say that Harris and Klebold were not in the yearbook photo, and, according to the Post, "they weren't part of the group."

   The leaked portions of the Columbine report do not appear to contain information about the shooting of Cassie Bernall, the 17-year-old student who was allegedly confronted by Dylan Klebold during the shooting spree in the library. Within hours of the Columbine shootings, there were unverified claims that Klebold had asked Bernall if she believed in God. When she answered in the affirmative, Klebold repoortedly shot her.

   Bernall, a troubled and rebellious youth who became a born-again Christian after being sent by her parents to a disciplinary religious camp, was quickly transformed into a 'Martyr" for her beliefs. Despite compelling evidence that such an event even occurred as claimed, religious publications, spokespersons, web sites and media programs were quickly reporting on the "martyrdom of Cassie Bernall." The Bernall "martyrdom" was even mentioned on the floor of the U.S. Congress, as representatives passed a flurry of religion-friendly bills relating to school prayer, display of the Ten Commandments, and involving faith-based groups in the welfare system.

   Last September, Bernall's parents published a bestseller book titled, "She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall."

   While there is no mention of Bernall's "martyrdom" exploitation killing in Sunday's Denver Post lead story, investigators have had serious doubts about the incident. Rocky Mountain News writers Dan Luzadder and Katie Kerwin McCrimmon reported in September, 1999 that during conversations with Bernall's parents, investigators from the Jefferson County sheriff's office told them that the encounter between Klebold and Cassie may not have occurred.

   That did not stop the girl's mother, Misty Klebold and Plough Publishing from going ahead with printing and distribution of over 300,000 copies of "She Said Yes."

   "It was discrepancies in student accounts that led police to question the Bernall testimonial," reported the News. "Students told differing accounts of the shooting in the library."

   The circumstances of the library shooting, and the possible myth-making surrounding the death of Cassie Bernall could turn out to be one of the more explosive and controversial parts of the official summary on the Columbine incident. Investigators have reportedly succeeded in reconstructing a rigorous timeline, though, of where Klebold and Harris were at any one point as they moved about the school. The report will confirm that Klebold and Harris killed ten of their victims, and took their own lives, in the library. A special "Library Team" was assembled by the investigators, and headed by Arvada Detective Russ Boatright.

   Lead investigator Kate Battan said, "Because of the nature of what occurred in the library, I wanted it (the report) done right."

   At least one other sheriff's office detective, Diane Obbema and FBI Special Agent John Elvig played key roles in this phase of the probe.

   There are also tantalizing hints that investigators are digging in to defend what may prove to be a controversial finding about what occurred in the library. The Post story quotes Detective Battan saying, "We went back to the library time and time again... We'd say, 'This witness says this happened. Is it possible from where they were sitting? Can you see where they were at? Can you see what they said they saw?' "

   How thorough is the final report going to be? "Shot by shot, we know," said Battan. "Minute by minute -- and in many cases second by second -- we know all that."

   Will the report be the conclusive denouement of an American tragedy that took place nearly 11 months ago?

   A separate Denver Post story quotes Cassie Bernall's father Brad saying, "We're interested to see how they (investigators) describe the events, I guess, but we don't look forward to it." He added, "I haven't read anything yet that's been of any comfort, and this won't contribute to any positive building in our lives."

   A mystique has grown up around the Columbine shooting, though, fueled by hyperbole, religious and political agendas, and in some cases media overkill. Finger pointing at the alleged villains and causes behind the tragedy happened quickly; everything from the availability of firearms to the lack of religion in the nation's public schools have been cited as causative factors. Defending his vote in favor of a House Resolution calling upon governments to display the Ten Commandments, Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) cited the Columbine shootings, and suggested that had the Decalogue been shown on the front laws of the high school the bloodshed might not have occurred.

   The myth-making of Cassie Bernall continues, unabated. Last month, Misty Bernall received a Christopher Award for her book, "She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall." The book spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and remains in the number one slot on the Catholic Book Publishers Association list of best sellers.

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