Dave Sanders

William David Sanders was born on October 22, 1951 in Eldorado, IL, and died on April 20, 1999 in a science storage room at Columbine High School at the age of 47. Dave was a beloved teacher and coach at Columbine High School for 25 years. Hired at 22, he taught business, computer classes, was a substitute science teacher , and coached girls' basketball and softball.

He left behind a wife, four children, and five grandchildren.

Dave Sanders' Funeral and Gravesite

Dave's family kept his burial private, but held an open funeral for him at Trinity Christian Center on April 26, 1999. His funeral was led by Trinity founder and senior pastor Billy Epperhart, who also led the services for Corey DePooter, Rachel Scott, and Steven Curnow.

The Shooting Begins

When the shooting began around 11:20 a.m., Mr. Sanders was in the teacher's lounge, which was connected to the cafeteria. He stepped outside briefly to see what was going on and ran back inside to warn students about the gunmen outside. After yelling at students to get out of the cafeteria, Sanders helped another teacher pull an injured Sean Graves into the doorway

Students pulled him into Doug Johnson's biology classroom

While the 911 operator knew about Dave's situation, police allegedly did not. SWAT officers Lt. Terry Manwaring and Capt. Vince DiManna told the Denver Post they were never told about Sanders and they didn't know there was a teacher bleeding to death in a classroom .

In Memoriam

After his death, a softball field was named after coach Sanders

Sanders was awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.

Autopsy Report

Sanders' autopsy report was written by Michael J. Doberson, M.D., Ph.D., a Forensic Pathologist and Corner/Medical Examiner for Arapahoe County on May 18, 1999. His autopsy states the following:

PATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSES

1. Perforating gunshot wound to the neck and head with:

• Entrance, left lower neck.
• Exit, right upper lip.
• Partial transection of the left internal carotid artery.
• Laceration of the tongue and avulsion of multiple teeth.
• Associated hemorrhages.

2. Perforating gunshot wound to the trunk with:

• Entrance, right upper back.
• Exit, right upper chest.
• Fracture of the right clavicle.
• Partial transection of the right subclavian vein.
• Associated hemorrhage.

OPINION

This 48-year old man sustained gunshot wounds at the high school in which he was a teacher. He died a short time later at the scene. His death is attributed to multiple vascular lacerations due to perforating gunshot wounds to the neck/head and trunk. Toxicology analysis of body fluids obtained at the time of autopsy were negative. In view of the scene and circumstances surrounding the death and autopsy findings, the manner of death is classified as homicide.

Encyclopedia notes: Although the autopsy states he was 48 years old, Sanders was 47 years, 5 months, 29 days old at the time of his death.

Lawsuits

The family of Dave Sanders filed a federal lawsuit against the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department alleging that they knew by 12:30 p.m. that both shooters were dead, which would have changed the way they were required to respond. Police and medical personnel were forced to wait outside, some of whom said they were threatened with being shot if they disobeyed orders. One officer did disobey orders to rescue severely wounded Mark Taylor.

According to the Sanders lawsuit, knowing the shooters were dead by 12:30 p.m. should have allowed police and medical teams to go into the school and save Sanders. By noon, they were aware he was wounded and knew his exact location. A teacher in the room, Ms. Miller, placed a dry erase board in the window that read "1 BLEEDING TO DEATH." Instead of being rescued, they let Sanders bled to death for hours. Although he had a pulse when he was finally found by SWAT, they made the tough decision to leave him and search for other survivors.

One of the most interesting allegations in the Sanders lawsuit was that a SWAT sharpshooter had Dylan Klebold in his sights, asked to take a head shot, and was told to stand down by his supervisor. Another allegation claims that the unnamed sharpshooter witnessed both Harris and Klebold die in the library, which means police knew the shooting was over hours before Sanders died and failed to rescue him.

It is known (with photographic evidence) that there were several sharpshooters stationed on nearby residential roofs who could see clearly into the library, specifically the area where Harris and Klebold died. Although some claim police and sharpshooters could not have had a clear sight into the library during the shooting, a crime scene photograph Brian Rohrbough presented during the Ireland lawsuit, taken the day of the shootings, proved that even law enforcement on the ground could see clearly into the library from the ground. This supports the allegations in the Sanders suit that the sharpshooter had the visibility he claimed.