Snipers/Sharpshooters Had A Clear View Into The Library

One had Dylan in his sights and was told to stand down

A lot of newer researchers have been told that it's just a myth or a "conspiracy theory" that there were snipers who were on the roof watching the library and may have seen Eric and Dylan die. This topic is routinely marked "misinformation" on Reddit. And although many people have come to discover that most “stories” in this case drama are fabricated, this story was not invented out of thin air. It was officially published by FEMA, although it was quickly retracted. It was also mentioned in the Ireland and Sanders lawsuits, revealing that the Sanders family signed an NDA with the sniper to keep his identity private.

There were at least 7 snipers (documented), and we have 4 of their names and visual footage of 3 of them on rooftops.

Many people believe the "sniper story" is just a reference to the SWAT members who gathered on the roof of the gym carrying MP5s well into the attack. The following still from the news helicopter footage is often used to "debunk" the presence of actual sharpshooters:

SWAT on the roof of Columbine High School's gym

These men are Lakewood SWAT, not snipers.

// WHO WERE THE ROOFTOP SNIPERS?

ROOFTOP SNIPER #1
Dennis Beery (p.8517) stationed on the roof of 6895 Polk Ave. This is the sniper who had a view, admittedly, into the library.

ROOFTOP SNIPER #2
D.K. Hoffman (p.8525) stationed on the roof of 6865 Polk Ave. - one house to the right of sniper #1.

Is sniper #1 or #2 the sniper on the rooftop in the photo/video still facing the library & cafeteria?

It's hard to say for sure because both were on rooftops next to each other. If aerial footage of the homes could be acquired to show the ventilation chimney that can be seen in the photo with the sniper, it might be easier to determine which sniper we see in the photo. Google Maps places the address markers over the areas where it looks like there could be ventilation on both houses, so I can't be sure which house is in the photo. Both houses look like they have a chimney (from either a gas water heater or a wood stove), and zooming in doesn't show more details.

ROOFTOP SNIPER #3
Sgt. Shawn Cooper (this is mentioned in the Columbine Debriefing video linked below). Address unknown (if found, this post will be updated).

ROOFTOP SNIPER #4
Robert Clark, stationed on a rooftop on W. Fair Drive (p.8600).

But, wait, it gets more interesting.

// A SHARPSHOOTER HAD KLEBOLD IN HIS SIGHTS AND WAS TOLD TO STAND DOWN

The original FEMA report, Wanton Violence at Columbine High School, stated that a sharpshooter had Klebold in his sights, asked to take a head shot, and was ordered to stand down. This report was removed from the internet and edited, and that part was taken out before the report was replaced.

If you have this report, you likely have the edited version.

**At the end of this article you'll find excerpts from a Salon article discussing how the sharpshooter being called off of Klebold was an allegation included in the Sanders lawsuit. This claim was directly and publicly acknowledged by the Sanders’ attorney. It was not created by “conspiracy theorists.”

Also included in the lawsuit were claims that at least one sharpshooter witnessed the shooters' deaths.

You can read about it here:
https://extras.denverpost.com/news/col0421lawsuits.htm

Excerpts:

"About the same time, commanders ordered sharpshooters stationed on nearby rooftops not to try to take out the killers with "kill shots," or to use diversionary devices such as remote-controlled robots to distract the killers. One sharpshooter, who told commanders at about noon that he had a clean shot at gunman Dylan Klebold, was told not to fire, according to a suit by Sanders' daughter Angela."

"Around 12:15 p.m., police sharpshooters on nearby rooftops, using high-powered binoculars and telescopic rifles, watched Harris and Klebold commit suicide in the library. The sharpshooters immediately radioed their superiors with the information, according to the Sanders suit."

We all saw this information…

Most of us OG researchers remember the information about SWAT being told to stand down being published in the FEMA report because we downloaded the report and were shocked to read about the sniper being called off. When we started discussing the matter online, the FEMA report was pulled from the internet. The link no longer worked.

Shortly after, the link worked again, but this time, there was no mention of the SWAT member who was ordered to stand down and not shoot Klebold.

A CRTF member noticed this (I think it was Jane) and this became yet another discussion - that they edited the FEMA report. Oh yeah, it's not a rumor, it really happened. However, if you try to post about this on Reddit, your post will be rejected for being "misinformation."

Well, it's not misinformation. At least not the story that a sniper saw into the library. Beery would have seen Eric and Dylan die unless he closed his eyes because he was posted, admittedly, with a direct line of sight into the library.

Beery was most likely the sniper who was called off from taking a head shot at Klebold. At least, according to the story.

We have photos and video footage of 3 different snipers staged on nearby residential rooftops on Polk Ave. - one more to the right of the library/cafeteria area, and one with a DIRECT a line of sight straight into the cafeteria and library above (Beery). That is likely the SWAT member who had Klebold in his sights and asked if he could take a head shot and was told to stand down.

Here is a video clip showing two of the 7 known snipers.

Here's a video of a sniper who might be Beery, who would have been the one to have Klebold in his sights. If so, he likely had him in his sights in the cafeteria, but it may have been the library - we just don't know because we don't have detailed testimony from these sharpshooters.

Here are photos of some of the snipers on residential rooftops:

Who is the sniper in the last photo with a view into the cafeteria and library above? We don't know for sure. However, I believe this was Dennis Beery.

Patrick Ireland was reportedly rescued at 2:38 p.m., so the sniper with a view into the cafeteria and library would have arrived at their post prior to this time since he's seen in the photo with Ireland being rescued.

Beery's testimony and position matches the right time frame for him being the sniper in the photo facing the cafeteria and library. Beery was told of the shooting at 11:30 a.m., got into a van to go to the scene, and as soon as he arrived he was stationed on a rooftop with a view of the library. He also observed the person place the sign in the window ("1 bleeding to death") where Dave Sanders was located (p.8217):

Sniper Dennis Beery's testimony:

Sniper D.K. Hoffman was dispatched with Beery and also took up a position on a rooftop on Polk Ave. (p.8525):

Both Hoffman and Beery were positioned on neighboring rooftops. They were deployed by K. Beaulieu (p.8507).

// WHO WERE THE EAST SIDE SNIPERS?

We know one of the snipers positioned on the East side of the school on W. Fair Drive was SWAT member Robert Clark. Clark was positioned on the East side of the school just after 1400 hours (2:00 p.m.) when he arrived (p.8600).

Sniper Robert Clark's testimony:

// ADDITIONAL SNIPERS

There was another sniper, Sean Dugan, who positioned himself under a vehicle (p.8694):

Next, we have Sargeant Mark Drajem, who was not a sniper, but fired 2 rounds into the library to cover SWAT.

"Sergeant Drajem was positioned with his AR15 near the southwest corner of the high school, near an out building. He believed he was approximately 60-75 yrds away from the school on an elevated area which placed him "somewhat level" with the second story library windows."

"Sergeant Drajem fired 2 rounds from his AR15 into the window where shots were being fired out of to give additional cover for SWAT members below." p.8354
[Credit for finding this goes to a Redditor - pending their approval to credit them specifically, we've made the request via DM]

// DID A SNIPER WITNESS ERIC & DYLAN DIE?

It's not only possible, but highly likely. It hasn't been officially stated which sniper had Klebold in his sights, nor do we know if he had Klebold in his sights in the cafeteria or the library. However, Dennis Beery was the sniper who had a view into the library and cafeteria, so if anyone saw them die, it would have been Beery. He was stationed on the rooftop before their reported time of death.

Could the sniper in the photo looking toward the cafeteria and library have seen into the library from a low vantage point? Yes. And Beery admits he had a view into the library in his testimony.

Contrary to how most buildings are constructed, Columbine's library windows were placed really low, so that when students stood near them, the window was at waist-level or below. You can see this in old photos from Columbine yearbooks as well as in the footage of Patrick Ireland being rescued.

// WHY DON'T WE HAVE SHARPSHOOTER TESTIMONY?

The problem is, we have plenty of photos and videos of these snipers, and we have four of their names, but we don't have:

-Testimony from the snipers
-A confirmation of how many snipers there were (can you believe SWAT said they didn't know exactly how many snipers they had?)
-A verification of which house address corresponds with each sniper. Years back, Mr. Brown said he figured this out and would share his maps and diagrams with us, but as usual, he never followed through.

// VIDEO PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF 7 KNOWN SNIPERS

"Bill Ockham" published a video titled "Debriefing of the Columbine Incident" produced by Operational Tactics, Inc. narrated by Lt. Bill Black (RIP - he died of cancer) from the Littleton Police Department. This video is not new and has been around for a while, and most OG researchers have seen it.

In this video, you'll hear that there were 7 snipers:
2 on the East side
2 on the South side
2 on the North side
At least 1 on the West side, which is where the cafeteria and library were. However, we know there were two snipers on this side (Beery and Hoffman) so this brings the total number of DOCUMENTED snipers to 8.

Here's an excerpt from an article discussing how the sniper being called off on taking that headshot was included in the Sanders lawsuit. Thanks to Catnip20 from the old CRTF forum. Here's the TL;DR excerpt:

"The Sanders lawsuit contained a host of major new allegations, including claims that a sharpshooter had Dylan Klebold in his sights in the library, but his supervisors wouldn't allow him to act. It also contends the sharpshooter saw Klebold and Eric Harris commit suicide, and thus officers were aware the pair were dead three hours before Sanders died, but failed to rescue him.

Because of confidentiality agreements, Grenier said he was unable to be specific about the identity of the sharpshooter, the item covered up or the witness to it. "It will all come out in discovery," he said.

A sharpshooter witnessed the killers' suicides, the suit claims, and therefore "the Command Defendants knew of their deaths to a virtual certainty by 12:30 p.m. at the latest."

Source: Salon.com, Columbine "coverup"
Dave Cullen, April 21, 2000

Why is this such a touchy subject? Did a sniper kill a student? Or did a sniper witness something else that they don't want us to know about? Inquiring minds want to know.