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There were a total of 99 explosive devices found during the Columbine Investigation. 97 of those were found at the school, in the suspects’ cars, and in their homes.
EXPLODED devices at CHS
13 were found outside, 5 in the library, 6 in the classrooms and hallways, 6 in the cafeteria for a total of 30.
UNEXPLODED devices at CHS
2 were found outside, 26 in the library, 14 in the classrooms and hallways, 4 in the cafeteria for a total of 46.
UNEXPLODED devices in Dylan’s car
There were 12 total explosive devices found in Dylan’s car.
UNEXPLODED devices in Eric’s car
There was only one explosive device found in Eric’s car.
UNEXPLODED devices at Dylan’s house
There were 6 explosive devices found inside Dylan’s house.
UNEXPLODED devices at Eric’s house
There were 2 explosive devices found in Eric’s house.
Construction
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Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold failed miserably at constructing effective pipe bombs. They constructed their pipe bombs with the powder they gathered from unused fireworks and other small explosives they received as payment for working at a fireworks stand over the summer. The powder in these fireworks was mainly black powder which is a low explosive.
There are two kinds of explosives – high explosives and low explosives. Fireworks are considered low explosives since their detonation velocity is less than 100 yards/second. High explosives (like flash powder) have a detonation velocity greater than 1,000 yards per second.
Eric and Dylan used such a poor combination of powder that the majority of their bombs simply blew off their endcaps at best.
Eric and Dylan constructed smaller pipe bombs to place inside of bigger pipe bombs. They duct taped various metal pieces to the outside of their pipe bombs to act as shrapnel. So why wasn’t anyone killed by their pipe bombs?
Their pipe bombs only injured one student – Matt Kechter. He had burns on his abdomen. No one else was injured by their bombs. Their pipe bombs were not well-made. Their method of construction was amateurish, and the only result from the explosions were endcaps blown off at best. This is apparent with the 12+ endcaps that were found blown off of the bombs. This was due mostly to the type of powder they used. There were plenty of other types of powders they could have used; however depowdering fireworks was the cheapest and easiest method available to them.
No one was killed from a pipe bomb explosion, but Matt Kechter was burned from an unknown incendiary device. A pipe bomb was tossed onto Makai Hall’s leg, but Patrick Ireland threw it across the library just in time and saved Makai from further injury. Pat was shot just after this took place.
Prior Experience With Bombs
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Eric and Dylan created many pipe bombs over the course of the last two years of their lives and detonated them prior to 4/20/99. Some of their friends admittedly participated in their construction and detonation.
On February 15, 1998, a pipe bomb was found in a field near Garrison and Field Street in Jefferson County. The bomb squad was dispatched, and the bomb they found matched Eric’s description of Atlanta and Pholus from his website.
“Atlanta, Pholus, Peltro, and Pazzie are complete. for those of you that dont know who they are, they are the first 4 true pipe bombs created entirely from scratch by the rebels (REB and VoDkA). Atlanta and Pholus are each 1 1/4″ by 6″ pipes…” excerpt from Eric’s website.
Atlanta was the pipebomb that Eric’s parents had found in his room. He had named it after the Olympic bombing in Atlanda. When Eric’s parents found Atlanta, they took it from him and put it in their closet because they didn’t know what to do with it. Rumor has it that Eric’s father went with him to detonate it.
Dylan also had a pipe bomb he named Atlanta that was recovered from his home after the shootings. His pipe bomb named Vengeance accompanied Atlanta to the evidence vault.
The Phoenix project was another name for one of their bombs, although there is not much information regarding this pipe bomb.
Diversionary Bomb on 4/20/99
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Accdording to the Littleton Fire Department dispatch tape, the day of the shooting, Unit FD E13 responded to a report of a fire at the 8000 block of South Wadsworth between Ken Caryl and Chatfield at 11:20a.m. The responding Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad described seeing a 25′X25′ burned area, and they found two backpacks. One had been burned severely, and one had not. They found other bomb-making components, but there was no mention of a detonation device. Since these bombs consisted of small propane (LPG) tanks and gasoline cans with no detonator, popular belief is that the bombs were meant to be manually detonated by being punctured or blown up with a pipe bomb. This is not true because the bombs were designed to produce a BLEVE. (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion). The idea was that the propane tank would be attached to a gasoline canister which would have a fuse attached to a timer (in Eric and Dylan’s case a manual alarm clock) and when the alarm went off, it would ignite the fuse and the gasoline canister would create a fire that would heat up the propane (LPG) tank. When LPG is exposed to heat, it will explode, as it is under pressure. The gas rises to the top and it fails. BOOM.
“At 11:19 a.m., Jefferson County Dispatch Center receives the first 911 call from a citizen reporting an explosion in a field on the east side of Wadsworth Boulevard between Ken Caryl and Chatfield Avenues. The explosion is actually a timed diversionary device. Two backpacks with pipe bombs, aerosol canisters and small propane tanks had been placed in a grassy open space three miles southwest of Columbine High School. Only the pipe bombs and one of the aerosol canisters explode but the explosion and subsequent grass fire are enough to get the attention of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Littleton Fire Department.” (Sheriff’s Office Official Report)
Below is an excerpt from an interview/statement from Jeff L. Britegam regarding his response to Columbine High with his partner Sgt. Scott Linne. Jeff and Scott were the first responders from the Bomb Squad. This interview can be found on pages 7693-7694 of the 11,000 page report.
“At about 1215 hours, on 042099, Sgt. Scott Linne and I were sent to the 8000 block So. Wadsworth Blvd., in unincorporated jefferson County, to assist on an item that had exploded. Sgt. Linne and I arrived about 1220 hours. On our arrival we noticed an area of grass about 25′ x 25′ that had been burned. We also saw a section of wood fence (6′ high), that had been burned. Sgt. Linne and I found numerous items (that appeared to be associated with the explosion), including batteries, manual alarm clock, a nearly complete backpack, and what appeared to be the remains of a destroyed backpack. I also notices two metal end caps that are normally used in making pipe bombs. There appeared to be flammable liquid used to detonate (in conjuction with the clock, batteries, etc), the backpack. Sgt. Linne took some of the remaining parts of the items we found back to Columbine H.S. so the other Bomb Techs could look at them. Sgt. Linne and I turned the scene over to ASCO Investigator Wayne Belohlavy and members of the South Metro Fire Department.”
My note here: The diversionary bomb was between Ken Caryl Ave. and Chatfield, along Wadsworth Blvd. along the last fence before a greenbelt on the East Side of Wadsworth Blvd.
They had over 10 Propane Tank Bombs!
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Most people know about the two 20 pound propane tanks in the cafeteria, but there were much more than that.
On page 143 of Evidence One, Scene Recovery Log, you can see items 4642 & 4643 are 20 pound propane tanks. One is on the rear seat of the BMW, and the other is in the trunk of the BMW.
If you go to Evidence Volume Two, and go to the ATF Reports, page 11 you will see the following:
Items 6079 & 6080 are 20 pound propane tanks found in the HONDA.
Items 4642 & 4643 are 20 pound propane tanks found in the BMW.
Items 4635, 4636, 4637, & 4638 are all 16 pound propane tanks made into bombs found in the BMW.
So Eric had two- 20 pound propane tanks in his car while Dylan had two- 20 pound propane tanks PLUS four- 16 pound propane tanks in his car.
You can also see item numbers 4409 & 4429 which are also 20 pound propane tanks. These are not attributed to any vehicle, and when you look at the Evidence Number Log it shows these item numbers as Hallway/Backpack photos. (The two propane bombs in the cafeteria were in backpacks) But there are a total of six- 20 pound propane tanks, all with different item numbers, four of which were found in their vehicles.