Students Reunited With Parents at Leawood

    The Columbine students who had escaped the school on the east side were taken through the backyard of a residence across the street and to a driveway where school buses were waiting to transport them to Leawood Elementary School. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office SORT team placed a deputy on each bus to provide security for the students’ short trip to the school.

    The buses dropped the students at the gymnasium entrance adjacent to the faculty parking lot on the east side.  Students were brought in through the gym, across the stage and into the back band room where they were identified and quickly interviewed for any information they could provide about the incident.  Denver Police Department's homicide unit and a Jefferson County Sheriff's investigator conducted most of the interviews inside the elementary school.

    A list of the students who had been evacuated to Leawood was being put together by the Denver Police Department, the victim advocates and the school staff.  School personnel created a spreadsheet with the names and printed an updated version every 15 minutes.  The list was posted on the door for anxious parents collecting at the school.  As information became available, another list provided names of students confirmed as being at the Columbine Public Library.

    DOWNLOAD:   Video from KUSA-TV Ch9

CLICK THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON OVER THE PHOTO TO PLAY OR STOP VIDEO OR USE THE DOWNLOAD BUTTON ON THE LEFT

    Leawood’s gymnasium served as the assembling area for parents of children who were verified as having been evacuated to Leawood.  Parents waited in the gym while authorities interviewed their student. SORT helped to direct those parents waiting to be reunited with their child.  They also assisted in keeping the media out of the school building at the request of the school administration.

    As the afternoon wore on and no more buses were arriving with evacuated students, the gym became a collecting point for the parents with a child still missing.  SORT continued to maintain the perimeter security while victim advocates stayed with the families and Red Cross provided food and drinks.