How they were equipped that day

Klebold and Harris in cafeteria

    Klebold and Harris drove onto the Columbine High School campus April 20, 1999, armed with four guns, several knives and numerous explosive devices.

    Klebold was dressed in cargo pants, a black T-shirt that said “Wrath,” and a black trench coat.  Underneath his coat was an Intratec TEC-DC-9, 9-mm semi-automatic handgun attached to a strap slung over his shoulder.  His cargo pants had large pockets that later allowed him to partially conceal a Stevens 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun, particularly since the barrel had been cut down to approximately 23 inches.

    Harris, also wearing a black trench coat, wore a white T-shirt underneath that said, “Natural Selection.”  He had a Hi-Point 9-mm carbine rifle on a strap hidden under his coat.  Harris pulled a Savage – Springfield 12-gauge pump shotgun from one of the bags the gunmen carried to the top of the hill.  Again, both its stock and barrel were cut off, reducing the measurement of the entire gun to 26 inches.

    Only two shots can be fired from a double-barreled shotgun before the shooter must reload by breaking the barrel open, manually inserting two new rounds, and closing the gun. A pump shotgun can be fired as fast as the gunman can pump and shoot.  It shoots much faster than the double-barreled type because spent shells are ejected and a live shell manually slides into place. A gunman can shoot five rounds with the pump shotgun before the weapon must be reloaded.

    Harris fired 25 times with his shotgun, 21 in the library, four inside the school, and none outside. Klebold fired his shotgun 12 times, six in the library, four inside the school, and two outside.

    In the videotape that shows the gunmen practice shooting at Rampart Range, both are shooting their sawed-off shotguns.  It seems clear that they’re still getting used to them.  Their hands are bleeding because they’ve sawed off so much of the gun. The recoil from the weapons is substantial – and quite painful for a gunman to shoot repeatedly. 

    Harris shot his 9-mm carbine rifle 96 times, 13 in the library, 36 inside the rest of the school and 47 outside. His weapon of choice in the library was his shotgun. 

    Klebold shot his TEC-9 55 times, 21 inside the library (that was his weapon of choice), 31 inside the rest of the school, and three times outside. 

    Both gunmen also carried numerous knives, but they did not use them on April 20.  They both had match strikers taped to their forearms, presumably to be used to easily light their bombs.

    Klebold wore a black glove on his left hand; Harris wore the matching glove on his right hand.

    Both wore utility belts which held pouches filled with shotgun shells.  Their cargo pants contained CO₂ bombs and clips of 9 mm bullets for their guns.  They also carried a backpack and a duffel bag filled with bombs.  

Shots Fired by KLEBOLD and HARRIS

188 Shots Fired by KLEBOLD and HARRIS