Other victims of Columbine massacre: killers' parents

DENVER — Questions and criticism have hung over the parents of Columbine perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold virtually from the start, but a decade later the families have yet to make any expansive public statements.

Faced with multiple lawsuits that played out over years, they have remained largely silent as public opinions swirled around them, ranging from sympathy to sharp criticism and outright blame for failing to notice, or address, warning signs of potential violence.

Both families issued brief statements through their attorneys the day after the tragedy. They also sent notes to victims or their relatives shortly after the shootings — though some didn't find their way to the recipients for months as they were channeled through public agencies.

"There are no words to express how much we regret the tragic events of that day," the Harrises wrote to one injured student. "We would have given our lives to prevent them."

A few of the parents' thoughts have trickled out in documents, like the notebook in which Wayne Harris jotted observations on his son's mounting troubles. The entries began more than two years before the Columbine attack, but the notebook wasn't made public until 2006 as the Harrises fought its release.

It shed little light on underlying causes of the shootings.

In 2001, the Klebolds contributed to a book, "Parents Under Siege," by Cornell researchers James Garbarino and Claire Bedard, but legal considerations precluded use of direct quotes or specific details about the family.

They also did an interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks in 2004 in which they explained why they've stayed in the Denver area — "You can't run from something like this," Tom Klebold said — and talked about how they missed warning signs of their son's troubles.

"Dylan did not do this because of the way he was raised," Susan Klebold told Brooks. "He did it in contradiction to the way he was raised."

Both the Klebolds and Harrises considered but ultimately declined to participate in a comprehensive anti-violence study at the University of Colorado. Their decisions came as a blow to the effort, which had been promoted by the state's then-attorney general, Ken Salazar.

One other source of possible insight into the boys' family life exists in the form of the parents' depositions, taken in 2003 as part of a civil lawsuit that later was settled.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers had argued that the depositions should be made available for the university study. But a federal judge ruled in 2007 that the documents will remain sealed for 20 years, citing fear of copycat shootings.

Both families settled lawsuits by more than two dozen victims or their relatives for about $1.6 million in 2001. But even with legal issues resolved, they've had little to say publicly.

"You have to presume that the pain they've suffered is pretty significant, too, and nothing they could say could help anybody — so why say anything?" said legal analyst Scott Robinson. "People will find offense where they want to find offense. Better they stay quiet and let people be offended by that than provide fodder for the criticism gristmill."

Attempts to reach the Harrises were unsuccessful.

The Klebolds, through their lawyer, declined to be interviewed.