Columbine High School Shooting and the Incident Command System

Situation
On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Kliebold implemented their plan to bring weapons to their high school and kill people. Kliebold and Harris were students at Columbine High School. Kliebold and Harris parked in separate parking lots. Harris parked in the junior lot and Kliebold in the senior lot. It is speculated, that these spots were chosen because of their views of main entrances.

Kliebold and Harris began planning implementing their attack, in the parking lot. They had already set a firebomb a half-mile away. Evidence indicates this bomb was meant to distract emergency responders. The fire bomb was set to detonate at 11:14 a.m. The bomb did not completely fail. A small fire was produced that was quickly extinguished by fire personnel. Kliebold and Harris also prepared two propane bombs. They met at Harris's car and placed the bombs inside two duffel bags. Each bomb weighed approximately 20 pounds.

Klebold and Harris entered the cafeteria and left both duffel bags. They placed the bags a few minutes before the "A" lunch shift started. Klebold and Harris returned to Harris's car to wait for the bombs to detonate. Their intentions were to shoot students fleeing the cafeteria.

Brooks Brown, a fellow student, ran into Klebold and Harris. Brown and Harris had recently patched up a long-standing argument. Harris warned Brown, "Brooks, I like you now. Get out of here. Go home." Brown, feeling uneasy, walked away.[5] Students leaving for lunch reported seeing Brown walking away from the school.

The propane bombs failed to explode. Klebold and Harris armed themselves with an arsenal of other weapons and walked into the building. They entered the school through the West entrance. Klebold and Harris began their plan at 11:19 a.m. A witness hears Harris yell, "Go! Go!" Klebold and Harris pulled shotguns from under their trench coats. Rachel Scott and Richard Castaldo were sitting on a grassy knoll to the right of Harris and Klebold. Scott was shot four times. Castaldo was hit eight times.

Harris removed a 9 mm semi-automatic from under his trench coat and removed his coat. Harris aimed down the West staircase, near his position. Three students were walking up the staircase. All three students were shot. Harris and Kliebold then began shooting away from the school. They were targeting students eating lunch, south of the school. Two students were shot. One was able to run away. The second student played dead. Three other students were able to escape without being injured.

Klebold moved down the West steps towards the Cafeteria. He shot one student on the way to the Cafeteria. A wounded student was lying on the stairs. Klebold shot him again, in the face. Another wounded student was struggling to get down the steps. Klebold shot him from behind, killing him. Klebold entered the gym.

Harris was still at the top of the steps. He targeted several students sitting near the cafeteria's entrance. He began shooting down the steps at them. One student was wounded while trying to flee. Klebold returned to Harris's position. It is speculated, Klebold was checking on why the propane bombs did not detonate.

Klebold and Harris began opening fire on students standing near the soccer field. They began moving west into the school. They threw several pipe bombs, every pipe bomb failed to detonate (4). A teacher thought the two were shooting a video or pulling a prank. She began moving towards the West entrance with another student (6). Klebold and Harris shot out nearby windows. The teacher was hit by flying glass. The student was hit in the shoulder by shrapnel. The teacher ran down the hall and told students in the library to duck under the desks and be quiet. She dialed 911 and hit behind the library's admin desk. 911 records time stamped her call at 11:25 a.m.

At 11:24 a.m., Klebold and Harris began taking fire themselves. A Jefferson County deputy had arrived and began shooting at them. Ten rounds were fired at the deputy. The deputy radioed that he was in need of assistance. Harris and Klebold began moving down the school's main hallway. They shot anyone that they saw and three pipe bombs down the hall. They shot out the windows to the East entrance. They headed back towards the West entrance and turned towards the library.

Meanwhile, a coach had evacuated students from the cafeteria through a staircase that led to the second floor (4). The stairwell was near the library hallway. The coach and another student saw Klebold and Harris enter the hallway towards the library. The coach was hit in the chest. The student escaped into a nearby classroom. The room's teacher pulled the coach into the classroom. The teacher and several students used cell phone to contact police.

Klebold and Harris were now near the library above the cafeteria. Two bombs were thrown down into the cafeteria. A third bomb was thrown down the library hallway. All three bombs successfully exploded. Harris and Klebold entered the library at 11:29 a.m. The library contained 50 students, 2 teachers, and 2 librarians (4). Harris immediately shot a display case at the opposite end of the admin counter. His shot injured one student. On the 911 recording, Harris can be heard yelling "Get up!" Students from an adjacent room reported Harris saying, "Everyone with a white cap or baseball cap, stand up!" and "All jocks stand up! We'll get the guys in white hats!"[4] Traditionally, members of the school's sports teams wore white hats. No one stood up. Klebold and Harris moved along the library wall to two rows of computers. Klebold fired at a student in the upper row of computers. The student was struck in the head and neck. Klebold and Harris laid both of their duffel bags down to reload.

Meanwhile, police had arrived and began evacuating students. Klebold and Harris walked past the windows where they had just been. They noticed the police evacuating students. They began shooting out the windows to gain clear shots at police. Shooting out the windows caused police officers to return fire. Turning away from the windows, Klebold fired at a nearby table, injuring three students (4). Harris fired underneath the first desk in the row, killing one student. Harris then shot underneath the second desk, injuring one student. He moved to the third desk and shot a third student.

Harris moved away from the computers. He walked to a table near the computers. Harris slapped the table three times, looked underneath, and said "Peek a boo." He then shot one student in the head. His weapon recoiled hitting him in the face and breaking his nose. Another student was sitting beside a nearby table. There was not enough room for the student to hide under the table. Another student was trying to assist a wounded student. In doing so, the top of his became visible. Klebold fired two shots at him.

Klebold moved to yet a third table. Three student athletes were hiding under the table. Klebold attempted to pull one out but was unsuccessful. He called to Harris to join him. Harris knelt down and shot one student in the chest. Klebold also fired under the table and killed another student. The third student escaped harm by playing dead. Klebold and Harris left the library at 11:42 a.m.

Klebold and Harris headed toward the cafeteria. On the way, they three a fire bomb into a closet and fired into an empty classroom. They entered the Cafeteria at 11:44 a.m. Harris tried to detonate a propane bomb by shooting it. He was unsuccessful. They left the cafeteria at 11:46 a.m. At 11:48 a.m. a gallon of fuel was ignited causing a fire that was extinguished by the fire sprinklers. Harris and Klebold then wandered the North and South halls, looked into classrooms, and made eye contact with students; however, they never attempted to enter the classrooms. At 11:55 a.m. they returned to the cafeteria and walked through the kitchen. At 11:58 a.m. they returned to the South hall. Shortly after noon, Klebold and Harris committed suicide.

At 12:00 p.m., SWAT teams arrived on campus. Several explosives are found on the external of the building by police officers. First students are loaded into ambulances and taken for medical care. At 12:30 p.m. SWAT teams began a room-by-room sweep of the school. A few hours later the school is declared safe. Between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. 615 officers representing 27 agencies converge on the school. Anguished parents gather at a nearby elementary school.

Five Major Organization Activities
Management -
Jefferson County Sheriff Department's deputy and SWAT commander was the first to respond to Columbine High School. Lt. Manwaring requested both the SWAT Team and Command Staff be paged. The initial ICP was established at 11:36 a.m. Lt. Manwaring is the initial IC. The support SWAT commander arrives on scene and begins trying to gather information for the IC from radio traffic. At 11:45 a.m. Lt. Welcher arrived on scene. Lt. Welcher assumed the role of IC. Lt. Welcher would retain the role of IC throughout the event. EMS and Fire operations were assigned to Fire Chief Pessemier. Police officers from Denver aided in crowd control, scene protection, explosive ordnance disposal, investigation, and interviews. The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) also assisted initial operations. CSP officers assisted in a variety of roles.

Operations -
In all, 35 different law enforcement agencies and 11 fire and EMS agencies would respond. Among them were:

Fire Departments involved were Littleton Fire Department, Denver Fire, Englewood Fire, Sheridan Fire, South Metro Fire, West Metro Fire Protection District, and West Metro Fire Protection District.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) involved were American Medical Response, Columbine Ambulance, Denver Health, Pridemark Paramedic Services, and Rural Metro.

Law enforcement agencies involved were Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Adams County Sheriff's Department, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, Arvada Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Blackhawk Police Department, Boulder Police Department, Boulder County Sheriff's Department, Central City Police Department, Columbine Valley Police Department, Commerce City Police Department, Denver Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Edgewater Police Department, Englewood Department of Safety Services, Police Division, Erie Police Department, Gilpin County Sheriff's Department, Golden Police Department, Greenwood Village Police Department, Lafayette Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, Littleton Police Department, Northglenn Police Department, Sheridan Police Department, Thornton Police Department, Westminster police Department, and Wheat Ridge Police Department.

Government agencies involved were Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado Attorney General's Office, Colorado National Guard, Colorado State Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Planning and Intelligence -
School officials and external response agencies had only worked together superficially. During the incident, critical site data such as floor plans and classroom charts were not available. IC and Incident Management Team had to rely on hand drawn floor plans and second hand information from students, teachers, and administrators that had escaped. IC and Incident Management Team's information collection was made more difficult by conflicting information between radio traffic and 911 calls.

Logistics -
Over 600 law enforcement, fire, and EMS personnel responded to the Columbine shooting. The shear number of responders produced many logistical challenges including interoperability between radios, marking identified staging areas, and even feeding all the officers.

Incident Management Team had very little credible information to plan from. Lack of information caused a delay in SWAT teams entering the building. Three SWAT teams were available shortly after the incident began. However, they did not have credible information as to how many shooters, where the shooters were, or if they had hostages. Incident Commander and the Incident Management Team had to hold the teams until they had enough information to keep from sending the teams in "blind".
Finance and Administration -

Columbine High School shooting involved agencies from local, state, and federal government. Exact cost figures were not available. Jefferson County Sheriff's office estimates the response and following investigation at over $1 million dollars. Jefferson County Sheriff was determined to be the agency having jurisdiction. Initial funding of all operations was their responsibility. Over the next year many agencies would provide funds to the school, law enforcement, and victims to help alleviate costs.

Assessment
There has been school shooting prior to Columbine High School. One of these occurred in Jonesboro Arkansas. This shooting was one of the first ones that involved a very high level of planning and preparation. Klebold and Harris had procured and prepared firearms, ammunition, pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, and propane bombs. They had even planned a diversion for emergency response personnel.

The number of casualties was partly produced by the incident's timing. Students were outside eating, entering the cafeteria, and moving through the halls. Klebold and Harris knew the routine and chose an entry point that gave them access to multiple targets.

Columbine High School did have an emergency plan. However, like many plans of this time, they included only natural events. Neither teachers nor students had been trained in identifying suspicious behavior. One student was even warned of the event. Instead of alerting authorities, he went home. Proper identification could have reduced law enforcement's response time, if not stopped the incident.

Personal Opinion
No one wants to see anyone hurt or killed. Columbine High School shooting did produce several necessary changes to school emergency preparedness.

Schools realized that they are not immune to terrorism. Schools began working with their local public safety professionals to identify ways to prepare for such emergencies. School emergency response plans now take an all-hazards approach. Trainings have been produced that teach school staff, teachers, administrators, and students how to identify potentially dangerous behavior. Congress funded a study by the Secret Service that outlined exactly the steps that someone takes before actually committing an attack. This study gives warning signs that can be seen and acted upon.

Federal funding became available for these actions. Prior to this shooting, schools did not have the necessary funding for proper emergency preparedness. Congress used Columbine to push through legislation that provided funds for everything from emergency plan development to security cameras.

The most important lesson was that events could require the response from multiple agencies. This lesson changed the previous mindset that response agencies should only drill with other agencies in their town or county. The importance of regionalization was reinforced. Columbine was not the only event that reinforced this, however, it contributed to this awareness. Today, we have region Homeland Security Working groups in every state. Some places even have regional Hazmat and Urban Search & Rescue teams. All of these groups provide small communities with resources they would not otherwise have that are close enough to quickly respond.

References
Managing the Incident. n.d. CNN.com. Retrieved on December 3, 2009 from http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/Managing.the.INCIDENT.htm.
Columbine Tragedy Timeline. n.d. Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved on December 3, 2009 from http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/timeline.shtml