Columbine pain renewed

Families rocked as anniversary date draws near

Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 17, 2007 at midnight

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For some of the moms and dads who buried children after the murders at Columbine High in 1999, Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech unleashed raw emotions.

For all of them, there was sadness - that it had happened again, that other families were preparing to face losses like the ones they suffered eight years ago.

For some of them, there was anger - that some of the pieces to the puzzle of Columbine remain out of sight and that, in their view, some of the answers that could prevent tragedies like Monday's are locked away with them.

But mostly, there was pain.

"It just makes you think about the poor families, what they're going through," said Joe Kechter, whose son, Matt, was killed at Columbine on April 20, 1999.

He and his wife, Ann, were bracing for the anniversary Friday before they heard about the shootings at Virginia Tech.

"You just relive it - what you went through," he said.

Don Fleming, whose daughter, Kelly, was killed at Columbine, had a restless night of sleep and awoke Monday with a dark feeling hanging over him. Then he heard what happened at Virginia Tech.

"It was horrible," he said. "You just - here we are four days away from April 20, and as hard as it is after eight years, and knowing how hard it was that first day, we're eight years ahead of them, and it's still hard."

Al and Phyllis Velasquez, who lost their son, Kyle, at Columbine, didn't have their television on Monday. The learned about the Virginia Tech shootings when a reporter called.

"What is there to say?" Phyllis Velasquez asked. "It's horrible. Horrific. I guess it's not unbelievable, because we've lived through something like that. But it still takes you by surprise."

A few days ago, Rich and Sue Petrone slipped off to Las Vegas, to get some time away, to get their heads clear as they faced another anniversary. Sue's son, Dan Rohrbough, was killed outside Columbine.

Then they heard about Virginia Tech.

"I feel bad for those parents," Rich Petrone said, "but I'm just so angry."

The source of his ire: Decisions made in the past year that will keep secret tapes and documents that he believes might help prevent more shootings. Last year, Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink decided not to release a series of tapes made by Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, citing concerns about copycat crimes. And earlier this month, federal Judge Lewis Babcock sealed for 20 years sworn statements taken from the killers' parents as part of a now-dismissed federal lawsuit.

"Obviously, it ain't preventing it from happening," Rich Petrone said. "Obviously that old story about preventing copycats is bull----."

Brian Rohrbough, Dan's father, echoed those sentiments.

"Obviously, I'm deeply saddened for the families who've had someone killed or injured," he said. "And beyond that I'm just flat angry.

"I believe that the lessons of Columbine have still not been learned," he said.

The sealed records, he believes, could offer parents insight into troubled youths and could offer law enforcement officers valuable tools for evaluating threats.

Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, said Mink would have no comment.

vaughank@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5019

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